Precarious Parenting

Nicola Morgan is an international speaker and bestselling author of both fiction and non-fiction for teens. The book for which she is most well-known is Blame My Brain, The Amazing Teenage Brain. She’s known as 'The Teenage Brain Woman'. Together, we chat about her fascination with the teen brain and her desire to share this information as widely as possible. Her skill is sharing this neuroscience in a way which appeals to teenagers, parents, teachers and educators alike. We also chat about the revised edition, which is about to be released in mid-February 2023, and includes an additional chapter on social media and its impact on the teen brain. She says: "if we understand how our brain works, then we can start to make it work better instead of beating ourselves up about why it isn't working." Nicola can be found on and on Twitter @nicolamorgan

Andy's children have grown up now but he acutely remembers how his drinking affected the whole family. He talks about using drink to dull the feelings he was afraid of such as fear and guilt; he calls it 'the shame cycle'. By following the 12 Step recovery programme, in which he began to understand his self-centred fear, Andy now lives life one day at a time. He feels more present to the world around him, and within him, and loves the creativity which is untapped. This is an honest discussion about the parent who drank too much and the viewpoint of a child of a parent who drank too much.

The wonderful Dicken Bettinger chats about the joy of being a grandparent; to show up, be present with warmth and common sense. This is a beautiful episode which I'm sure you'll love as much as I did recording it.  Dicken is a clinical psychologist and author, and now sits as a Director on the Board of the 3 Principles Global Community site. In this podcast he shares the universal principles of Thought, Consciousness and Mind which are most fundamental when understanding the human psychological experience.  He says to enjoy yourself and the moment you're not, recognise it is Thought-related and it'll bring you back to the present moment. Dicken's co-authored book Coming Home is a highly recommended read.  Dicken's YouTube channel:

Elianne Elbaum is the Director of the Global Centre at UTEC University in Uruguay and, through this role, she supports tribes and first nation people within their communities. She discusses her experience as a new mother and how she felt 'so alone' and 'left behind' in her world. She compares this to how new mothers are treated within the communities she studies and how she sees parental wellbeing as the key to children's wellbeing.  Elianne has written a short book/essay called 'Making Parenting Better', which considers what developed societies might be like if we moved from a market economy to a care economy.  Elainne can be contacted on Instagram: @Elianne Elbaum or Twitter: @Eli_Elbaum  Making Parenting Better can be purchased via Kindle

Lorina Troy shares her shocking story of having her children removed. A mis-diagnosis led to her children being fostered, their father being arrested under two felonies linked to this mis-diagnosis, losing their home, marriage break-down ... to proving the mis-diagnosis, fighting for her children to be returned, all the way to successfully having the law changed for the right to a second medical opinion.  Lorina's story is fascinating. Her book is called 'Miracles of Faith' and can be found on Lorina can be contacted via FaceBook:

Sue Atkins helps us see that raising happy, confident kids can be hard, but the good news is that when the going gets tough, we’re not alone! With over 15 years experience as a parenting coach and teacher, Sue is the Parenting Expert for ITV’s ‘This Morning’, BBC Radio, Disney Junior, Good Morning Britain and India’s Education and Parenting World. She guides parents to overcome their challenges and develop their own balanced, down to earth parenting approach that creates happy, positive children, and relaxed confident parents. Sue is the author of the Amazon bestseller ‘Parenting Made Easy – How To Raise Happy Children’ as well as ‘Raising Happy Children for Dummies’ – one in the famous black & yellow series.  Sue also has lots of free resources on her website.

Tom Kreffer has diarised his experience from the moment he found out he was going to become a dad and he now writes books in the format of daily journal entries: () is about pregnancy from a soon-to-be dad's perspective. His second book ( covers the first year (newborn to one-year-old) and his third, about to be released, looks at the second year of parenthood. Tom believes that talking about pregnancy from a dad’s perspective is an underserved market. He feels that, fortunately, there is an increasing focus on encouraging dads to speak up.  Tom is able to blend humour with profound emotional truth and his books make people laugh, relate and reflect.  @tom_kreffer

Debbie Ausburn is a social worker turned lawyer, former foster parent, and current stepparent, and she written a book titled, 'Raising Other People's Children: What Foster Parenting Taught Me about Bringing Together a Blended Family.'  Debbie has spent decades working with traumatised children and this fascinating chat looks at the journey to writing her book.

Hans Kullberg's 10-month-old daughter, Aviva, passed away in November 2020 and he takes time in this podcast to explain how he has grieved, and still grieves. He is building a legacy in Aviva's name through a series of children's illustrated books: Baby Aviva Orangutan Diva, and by encouraging others to take a closer look at grief and the grieving process. Contact Hans on IG @avivasdad or via

Mavis Karn, LSW, MA, is an incredibly wise woman. She works in private practice offering coaching, counselling, teaching, education and consulting services. Here she discusses an important lesson she has offered her clients for more than 40 years.   Deep listening gives people the opportunity to begin changing their lives, restore hope, and greatly increase their ability to experience peace and joy and serve others.   She published the thesis 'The Myth of Peer Pressure', and a well-known letter to juvenile inmates, called 'The Secret'. Here's a link to her letter:   Mavis’ honesty and humble “true north” understanding of the principles underpinning the human psychological experience is deeply and broadly respected by clients and colleagues.

Ali Fanshawe is a parenting language specialist and founder of Fzzykids. In this podcast she shares her personal experience of adopting two children with educational learning needs, plus emotional and behavioural issues - what Ali refers to as being fizzy! Once she had understood and accepted that that things aren't always how we think they should be, Ali now feels able to share her journey and, therefore, offer support to other parents of fizzy kids.

Jack Pransky is a Three Principles author, trainer and practitioner: a coach of coaches and a counsellor of counsellors. He is a national and international consultant, speaker, and author who has worked in the field of prevention and community organising since 1968. He has written a range of books for children and adults. In this podcast we discuss his book: Parenting From The Heart. Jack talks about parenting honestly and openly, guiding us to listen deeply to our children and, from there, we'll be guided by well-being, not by our emotional state of mind. This podcast isn't just about parenting;  the ability to listen deeply to another person is helpful for us all.  Find out more about Jack at

SF Banks is a man on a mission; he's full of energy and positivity, even though a traumatic event at the age of 16 could have meant things may have turned out very differently.  SF sees his vocation as supporting teens. He feels the pandemic has opened up opportunities for the future of younger people and says it's a great time to be inspired. Find SF on and @sfdreamsbig

In the summer of 2021 I chatted with Theresa Mitchell, executive producer at Jhene Productions, who was finalising her documentary programme 'Life After Loss'.  The aim of the documentary is to empower and give voice to many unnoticed women who struggle with infertility, pregnancy and infant loss.  We talk about the differences in the UK and US healthcare services, grieving for miscarried or sleeping babies and how to deal with trauma positively. Theresa reminds us that, as women, regardless of our colour or background, we have a choice and that, whatever happens, it's okay not to be okay.

Marita Nizam is the author of 'Little Rabbit and the Grumpy Poos'. We had a great chat about why she felt moved to write this book and the powerful message behind it, which points to children being able to self-validate and know they are good enough no matter what anyone around them (like a Grumpy Poo) tells them. You can find out more at

Sonia Worthington is the Director of Parenting Solutions Devon.  We chatted about how families and parents can find themselves in really challenging situations and what can be done to support them. This is a UK based episode but the discussion may spark ideas for support options in other countries.  Find out more at www.parentingsolutions.co.uk

Jonnie Jensen is the founder of Team Super Dad and the Hero Academy. He chats about his personal journey through a failed marriage, where he speaks candidly about how he worked to become the man he wanted to be, and the dad his children needed him to be. You can find out more at

Cassandra Lane is a mum, an editor and the author of the award winning historical non-fiction novel We Are Bridges, where she shares the story of her family past in the Deep South of America.  We chat about how this journey led her to realise it was time for her to become a parent, plus how we should all value our own stories and remain true to ourselves, because that's what out kids need us to be. We Are Bridges can be purchased from:

Dave Young discusses his experience of being a widower for more than six years from his childhood sweetheart, Emma.  He speaks about loss but he also focuses on how he and his daughter, Mabel, have worked together to keep moving forward, by remaining in the present.  Dave can be contacted on daveyoungcoach@gmail.com

Sarah Wehkamp is a mom coach, podcaster, speaker, YouTuber  and contributor to the Huffington Post.  In this episode she talks about her experience of having twins and then another boy soon after and, along with postpartum depression, how she lost sight of herself. As a result, she realised she needed to separate her deep love for her children away from her frustration around parenthood. She didn't just want to raise happy healthy kids; she wanted to be a happy, healthy parent too.  Contact Sarah on