Does your child have an AI friend?
Content warning - suicide. Having recently discovered and started to engage in the world of AI, I'm impressed. Chat GPT and Copilot are...
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elainenichollsnvr
Dec 14 min read
A Trauma-informed Christmas
As we get ready for the magic of Christmas, here’s a helpful list for mums and dads - a reminder that the joyful season isn’t always so...
elainenichollsnvr
Nov 232 min read
NVR - evidence base and adaptability
NVR as a parenting approach was developed in the 1990s to help parents take a firm stance around harmful behaviours - like drugs,...
elainenichollsnvr
Nov 212 min read
It’s not about what happened to us as children
One of my favourite quotes is from one of Dan Siegel’s earlier books - parenting from the inside out. He explains that it isn’t what...
elainenichollsnvr
Nov 201 min read
Sometimes we just need to let off steam
In an NVR group for kinship/connected carers we talked about the importance of venting. Sometimes we don’t want advice - we just want to...
elainenichollsnvr
Nov 191 min read
What's the story?
The stories we tell ourselves matter. Whether emotions shape our narrative or our narrative shapes our emotions is up for debate. But one...
elainenichollsnvr
Nov 161 min read
From 'carnage' to calm
Finished an incredible journey with a neurodivergent family this week. We started working together about a year ago. At that point every...
elainenichollsnvr
Sep 232 min read
Pulling together through the difficult times
I've got NVR groups underway, new individual families as well as existing families, I’m just restarting university for the second/last...
elainenichollsnvr
Sep 212 min read
NVR parenting - warm and firm
Deciding where to set our expectations for our children can be tricky when there's trauma, disabilities, and other things going on like...
elainenichollsnvr
Sep 151 min read
Learning to feel safe
Learning to feel safe after a lifetime of being on guard is going to take time. In adoption, fostering, or kinship care - “a lifetime of...
elainenichollsnvr
Sep 141 min read
Your old self has no say
We all make mistakes as parents. We all have regrets. We all feel shame sometimes. Give yourself permission to move on from the parent...
elainenichollsnvr
Sep 131 min read
Everything that irritates
Carl Jung said everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves. It’s true. Sometimes things...
elainenichollsnvr
Sep 121 min read
If the only tool we have is a hammer...
If the only tool you have is a hammer, it's tempting to treat every problem as though it were a nail. A quote often attributed to Abraham...
elainenichollsnvr
Sep 102 min read
Two things can be true
Those of us parenting children who’ve experienced relational trauma can sometimes struggle to decide how to respond to behaviours that...
elainenichollsnvr
Sep 31 min read
You are delightful
When children are experienced as delightful, when that’s communicated through words & actions, children experience themselves as...
elainenichollsnvr
Sep 22 min read
Boundaries
We’ve got a reactive cavapoo who barks a lot when anybody walks past the house, especially if they’ve got a dog. Initially there was no...
elainenichollsnvr
Aug 291 min read
Rudeness
My conscious thinking brain knows this. My unconscious emotional brain sometimes doesn't. When we're feeling wound up by our kids it's...
elainenichollsnvr
Aug 232 min read
NVR chat - follow up group for parents
Today I did something I've been meaning to do for a while. I set up a Facebook group for parents who've completed an NVR parent group...
elainenichollsnvr
Aug 212 min read
Things I manage not to say
Children’s brains are wired differently to adult brains. The bits of the brain that help us manage our emotions and impulses, reflect on...
elainenichollsnvr
Aug 192 min read
Say yes to the feelings
This right here is the key to therapeutic parenting - saying yes to the feelings (or ideas, or thoughts, or wishes, or drives) while also...
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