Teaching your child to share
Here is a simple guide to teaching your child to share: Every parent understands the frustration that can sometimes come with trying to get a toddler to share. In a sense, difficulty in sharing at this age is a good indication – it points to the fact that your child is starting to develop his […]
How to help your baby’s brain grow
Let’s first look at what science has taught us about how your baby’s brain grows: Thanks to research we now know that our brains develop and change throughout our lifetimes, but the most important foundation for brain development is laid in early childhood. The experiences we have as young children affect the physical architecture of […]
Separation Anxiety
How should you deal with separation anxiety? Although it can make life rather difficult for parents, separation anxiety is a normal stage of your child’s development. It is an indication that your child has formed a secure attachment to you and feels happy and safe when they’re with you. Being separated from you for short […]
Thoughts on hysterical moms
I work with many different types of people in my practice and in all honesty I have to admit that I have worked with mothers whom I myself have secretly labelled as “completely hysterical”. You also hear it from other people around them: many a father has sat on my couch and referred to the […]
Book Introduction: Raising a star achiever
I am very happy to share with you all that my book has been published: If only came with a parents’ guide … Raising happy, well adjusted children is a tall order for any parent or caretaker. All parents want what’s best for their children and will do whatever it takes to help them navigate […]
Expresso video 1: What is bullying?
Last week I chatted to Expresso’s Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp about bullying. In the first segment we looked at what bullying is, what the psychological effects are and what signs to look out for. Bullying can be described as aggressive behaviour by one party (individual or group) against another in which there is a real […]
Expresso video 2: How to address bullying
In this video I chat to Expresso’s Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp on how parents should address bullying. It is absolutely vital that parents get involved if they know or suspect that their child is being bullied, but how they go about doing so is important: keep in mind that your child is most likely already feeling embarrassed […]
Expresso video 3: Why do children become bullies?
Bullying is a serious problem and as a society we often react with great empathy to the child who is being bullied. But what if your child is the bully? Children bully others for a variety of reasons. Surprisingly when we talk to bullies we often find that they themselves suffer from a low self-esteem […]
Self-mutilation in children and teens
Self-mutilation (sometimes also referred to as self-harm or self-injury) is defined as all acts by which an individual deliberately sets out to harm his or her own body. In the majority of self-mutilation cases suicide is not the main aim and the injuries inflicted are not life threatening. I realise that this is a […]
Parenting: Love is NOT enough
My hand hesitates with the cursor hovering over the “publish article” button. I know that what I’m about to say is probably going to offend you and I’m not prepared to apologise for it. Criticize away, but I feel it’s my duty to tell you that you’ve been lied to all along. The common dogma […]
