I live in Cheshire and lead the rather hectic life common to most families, raising three busy, energetic and increasingly mature boys of eighteen, sixteen and thirteen.

Professionally, I trained and qualified as a clinical psychologist in England before moving to Australia to live and work for seventeen years. In that time, I was employed as a clinical psychologist with families and children at risk of harm. I also began writing and presenting about parenting, child development and family issues.

Since returning to the UK, I have continued to write and broadcast on a wide range of issues that affect families, children and young people. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working on the television programme ‘Driving Mum and Dad Mad’ for ITV 1. Most recently, I provided psychological input on the Lorraine Kelly series ‘Chawners Last Chance’ for the Bio Channel and appear in videos for parentchannel.tv.

Writing books about child development and parenting gives me great pleasure and I enjoy making regular contributions to magazines and online parenting sites.

As a clinician, I am fortunate to work within the NHS as a consultant clinical psychologist directly supporting families, children and young people in the West Midlands. Alongside this, I have developed a private practice and offer supervision to other clinicians.

My work, whether it is writing, broadcasting or engaging directly with families and other professionals, encompasses a wide variety of areas from children’s early years through to adolescence. Issues range from common early problems such as children’s development, sleep and temper tantrums through to more specialist areas including childhood obesity, parent-child attachment, bullying, disabilities and anxiety or depression in children and young people. Underpinning my work in all these areas is a detailed knowledge of child development and an effective, practical approach.

I hope you can tell that I love what I do. As a parent myself, in my professional role working alongside other families and when writing and broadcasting I find life rewarding and bursting with fresh opportunities.