‘My child’s become so unreasonable. He used to be placid and easy going. Now he explodes for no reason.’ Perhaps you are like this parent, trying to figure out ...

'You’ve just had a melt-down!' In this article my colleague Patricia Martin Ph.D. discusses strategies for recentering yourself after you've disintegrated into a screaming match with your tantruming child.

When communities have been ransacked in the UK riots, it makes sense they want change. David Lammy, Tottenham Labour MP, 'partly blames anti smacking law'. Val Mullally, CEO of Koemba and Parent Coach trainer, comments on the issue of smacking.

‘How do I give my twelve year old freedom but also keep an eye on her without her thinking that I don't trust her?’
Parent Coach Val Mullally replies:
I think if I had the conclusive answer on that one I’d have the mega-million book sales. But what I do know is that I would have done differently if I’d known when my kids were in their teens what I know now.
Here's some key insights to meeting her needs and yours.

A Happy Christmas is destroyed when families (or ex's) erupt into conflict. Today Santa shares some helpful tips for a peace-ful Christmas.

‘We had total melt-down this week.’
It was the fourth week of our Parenting Programme, and Jane shared her story with the parents and myself, as facilitator, in her group. She’d had the flu during the week and one day was so off-colour that she left her five year old son, Timmy, to choose his own clothes for school. Later in the week he decided that he didn’t want to choose from the either/or outfits that she’d put ready – he wanted to choose his clothes himself. He started whining. She can’t stand him whining so she became increasingly uptight. He started having a meltdown and Jane left the room before she exploded. The other parents gave little chuckles – it was easy to identify with this situation.
‘How do I do it differently?’ she asked.
I invited her to role-play the situation, with me being the mother and her taking the role of the child. I wish I’d had the video camera rolling, but this is roughly what transpired.

As a parent, there are times when you're concerned because you're child is unhappy at school, perhaps being bullied or you're struggling with issues such as sibling rivalry. Discover a key communication tool with Parent Coach Val Mullally.

'I don' t want to go to school' / 'I hate school' or whatever version you're hearing, can fill a parent with dread.
Val Mullally shares 6 unhelpful tactics parents use - and shares alternatives that focus on creating long-term communication and building children's self esteem.

We watch the news and wonder how an educated country like England can erupt into such chaos.
What’s it all about?
They might have captured images on CCTV that will lead to arrests – and then what?
It’s like a doctor who treats only the symptoms without dealing with the root cause of the dis-ease.
It’s no good treating dysentery without creating clean water supplies and proper sanitation.
So what’s needed to clean up the current conflict in Britain?

It’s a fantastic Irish summer day and everyone seems to be walking along the beach front.
A young family is walking towards me, when suddenly the mother says to the pre-school age boy.
‘Don’t jump on it.’
Her words transform him into a guided missile that locks onto the drink can lying on the pavement.
In a sec. he’s jumped firmly on it, squashing it in the middle.
Frustration in her voice, the mother resorts to sarcasm.
‘Oh great, why don’t you dance on it!’
The boy, of course, complies! Waving his arms, wiggling his bottom as he performs multiple jumps on the can.
So what’s my response as a Parent Coach? ....