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.