I was lucky enough to have psychotherapist, author and mother of one, Joanna Fortune join me earlier in the season for the Covid-19 Special. But after chatting to her for those 15 or so minutes, I knew I had to get her back on for a full episode of her own.

Joanna is a fountain of knowledge and her two books 15 Minute Parenting 0-7 & 8-12 have helped hundreds of parents to find the tools to communicate with their children and help them grow and develop strong emotional responses.

Joanna isn’t about just jumping in and fixing every little problem a child faces. She gives parents the understanding they need to be able to listen to their children and help them to understand that things will be difficult sometimes, but you can overcome them and it will make you a better person.

I love how Joanna incorporates play into her methods. She believes that play is a state of mind and we should develop strategies to incorporate play as a way of communicating. If we are continually nagging our children to do something they will disconnect from us. But if we absorb ourselves into their play, and become “interested in our children’s interests" we can become less reliant on verbal communication which often goes unheard by the child.

In her latest book Joanna looks at the overlooked age group between 8-12. We tend to focus on the toddler years or the difficult teenage years, but there is so much development formed during this time. Relationship building, emotional growth, bullying and independence are all happening at this age. Joanna offers a roadmap for time poor parents to navigate through these difficult milestones and help better understand their child’s emotional needs.

I hope that you find this podcast as helpful and as interesting as I did. And although Alice is a long way away from being 8 there are definitely some ideas that I have already started to incorporate with our own play and communication with her. You can buy Joanna’s books from all the regular bookshops and online stores. And to follow her for daily updates please check out her Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/joannafortune/

Pamela x

Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/for-all-mum-kind/id1456045096?mt=2

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5q5ErY3McbYLuzC2qGfxVz