In this second of her two part episode, author and parenting specialist Ann Douglas continues her discussion on mental health with a focus on self compassion. Through her own journey with Bipolar disorder, and as parent to four (now adult) children with their own mental health needs, Ann speaks from both practice and wisdom on Parenting Through the Storm (her recent book). She says, “When you treat yourself with self compassion, that spills over and allows you to treat others with compassion; to feel connected rather than separate from the rest of society.”

In this episode, author and parenting specialist Ann Douglas describes the inescapable whirlwind of a mental health crisis. Through personal experience, Ann recognizes the challenge of finding harbours of safety when these winds of challenge blow through family life. Her 2015 bestseller Parenting Through The Storm is a compass for finding well placed harbours as we navigate our way through chaos to calmer waters. Join our conversation, as Ann shares with candor, kindness and compassion.

In this episode of Family 360, we continue our discussion with Family Therapist Ted Leavitt on the effects of undiagnosed and untreated ADHD on a person’s potential, productivity and self esteem. Diagnosed with ADHD in his thirties, Ted describes the life changing effect of therapy and medication, which, upon reflection, still makes him ask, “How did I live like this for 30 years?!”

In this episode, Family Therapist Ted Leavitt describes his diagnosis of ADHD as a discovery that changed everything, including his personal perspectives and professional practice. For the last decade, in addition to his counselling work, Ted focuses now on removing distinctions between problem behaviour and mental health problems. His work and study support the understanding that people, “Do well if they can.”

This is the second of a two part series with Dr. Malcolm Guite. In this episode, Dr. Guite reflects on how leaps of imagination can free us for innovative thinking. Imagination, he says, fuels our understanding of ourselves, our relationships and our social systems. Without imagination we will not progress from “the world known to the world unknown.”

This is part one of a two part conversation with Dr. Malcolm Guite. In this episode, Dr. Guite describes his vibrant childhood journey from Nigeria to Cambridge and his parent’s presentation of ‘life’ as a stage for wonder, poetry and imagination. Dr.Guite sees creativity as essential to our health. He says, “Starving and repressing a person’s imagination is just as bad as starving and repressing their body. Possibly worse.”

In this episode, Family Therapist Carolynn Turner describes how, in the process of living, our emotions can detach from our experience. When this happens, we deny our body its voice and erode our sense of self. Over time, this can leave us feeling emotionally flat; disconnected from ourselves, and from others. Carolynn offers practices and perspectives toward emotional wholeness, discovered and developed throughout her two decades of leadership in family therapy.

In this episode, counselor and teacher Gila Golub describes how generationally past patterns shape our present relationships and realities. Through her own story and study, Gila shares; ‘when we are unable to change a situation or relationship, we need to change ourselves and often the insight for that change is gained when we are willing to tolerate the discomfort of delving into our past.’

In this episode Author and Life Strategies Coach Ranbir Puar shares the story of her birth in India as the 5th daughter to parents who longed for a son. Growing up unseen and unheard, she saw herself as a victim in her home - a narrative she redefined in order to grow and flourish in her adult life. Ranbir’s work with clients of all ages, encourages self discovery, realizing “... relationships with others will be difficult until you have a good one with yourself."

In this episode of Family 360, family therapist David Loyst shares how reflections of his childhood shaped perspectives he didn’t recognize until his own marriage and family was in jeopardy. David describes how we can revisit our childhoods to revitalize our perceptions and our parenting. Ninety percent of our values, attitudes and beliefs are shaped before we are 7 years old - shaped - but not set . Where needed, “...we can re-parent ourselves and grow ourselves up to be the people and the parents we want to be.”