Sue Atkins

Rude and greedy behaviour among adults is contributing to the epidemic of gang and knife crime among children according to the Government’s school behaviour adviser Sir Alan Steer who is also a well respected Headteacher of Seven Kings High School in Essex.

I work with many parents who suffer from what I call “The BIG G” the gremlin of GUILT and it can come from working parents feeling guilty about their work- life balance, to parents feeling guilty about losing their temper, not playing enough with their kids, to feeling guilty about not spending enough time with their partner, their elderly mother, or feeling guilty about being separated or divorced.

I have recently been coaching some wonderful parents who have a child with ADHD and as a former teacher of many children with unique and different needs, I have been exploring with them how to handle the painful and often overwhelming feelings associated with dealing with the diagnosis that their child is different.

Children who are unique need your parenting approach to be individual, flexible and creative as well as consistent and clear because they have different needs to other children and this can be very stressful for you as a parent.

Children naturally fear that they will lose one of their parents in a divorce or that their parents will abandon them.  They also fear the changes and disruptions that a divorce will inevitably bring to their family and they often blame themselves.