Pop Culture Parenting

Healthy habits. We all want them for our kids and for ourselves, but as Whiplash reminds us, the pursuit of improvement can sometimes drift into pressure, perfectionism and burnout. In this episode we explore what the science of habit formation actually tells us about lasting change, including why healthy habits are built more by our environments than our willpower, why people with strong self-con...

What an episode. We asked the PCP community and they delivered some of the most beautiful reflections and advice about the arrival of a baby. We answer question about feeling ready, repairing bonds, jealousy and the foundations of connection. We hear practical advice and phenomenal reflections from people who have overcome challenges that no one should have to. Thank you to everyone who shared the...

This one might seem like it's just for new parents but it's for all of us. There's no moment quite like a new baby. You're handed the most enormous responsibility of your life wrapped in a very small blanket. Using The Incredibles as our jumping-off point, we explore what a newborn actually needs from the people around them. Why responsiveness matters more than perfection, and what support really...

Episode 131 is out now! Rewards and punishments reflection goes deeply into how developmental theory and the evidence can be used in the real world to guide our kids. We hear amazing listener reflections, questions and advice including a mum whose seven year old caught her mid-bad-parenting and handled it better than she did, a dad fighting the daily battle between connection and control, and a te...

To finish up our first PCP Guides series we ran a live Q&A with our amazing Patreon community. People seemed to think it was helpful so we thought we would share it more broadly. We answer as many questions as possible and cover some great areas about how we can better support neurodivergent kids. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions and for attending the session. Your relentless efforts...

Rewards and punishments are a part of daily life for anyone supporting children, sometimes consciously but often without us even realising. In this episode we discuss the developmental psychology behind them, how it can help us to guide our kids to healthier choices and behaviours and where we might be caught out ("it's a trap!"). We want them to choose the light side of the force by understanding...

In this final reflection episode of supporting neurodivergent kids we explore how we can true nurture the kids we love and care for. We explore safety, masking, communication and evidence-based care along with some incorrect and unhealthy beliefs about neurodivergence. To finish this PCP Guides series we will be running a live Q&A via out Patreon in the coming weeks. Please join that community to...

Well this was a big one diving deeply into chaos and control. We go deep into the balance between chaos and control in family life, especially when anxiety, neurodivergence, and survival mode are in the mix. Through honest listener stories, questions and practical insights, we explore why control can feel safe, how to loosen it without everything falling apart, and how real balance comes from safe...

A heavy but important re-listen this week about survival. So many of us feel like we are constantly in the arena battling to survive and in this ep we discuss how real and tough that can be with two messages sent in from the beautiful PCP community. Thank you all for helping us to keep moving forward and we hope this helps in some small way too. We can't wait to host a Patreon live Q&A at the end...

What a movie, what a topic! So much of life is the balance between chaos and control and mental illness Mental illness can present when we become either overwhelmed by unchecked emotion and unpredictability or constrained by rigid, overprotective attempts to stay safe. Just like riding waves children can learn how to successfully ride the waves of chaos and control in their lives with the right su...

In this reflection episode we hear from so many parents & professionals about their worries regarding children they care for. We discuss early development, neurodiversity, teenagers, schools and the best practice approach to assessment and building support around kids. Thank you to every single person who sent in a message. We can only read a fraction but every message helps choose what we cover a...

One big challenge of supporting children is figuring out when to worry. What difficulties are a typical part development and what are signs of something more worrying? Research highlights that many parents and professionals feel lost as to signs of developmental or mental health concerns so in this episode we try to offer guidance so that people can be comfortable to keep sailing or help realise i...

Few episodes are more important and full of practical tips than this one! In this re-listen we reflect on what we can do to support our kids in healthy sleep. Poor sleep impacts 30-40% of children with up to 80% of neurodivergent children experiencing childhood insomnia. We hope you like this PCP Guide and please listen to the reflection episode 20 as it's full of gold form the beautiful PCP commu...

Well this is a big one folks! Thanks to so many amazing questions, reflections and advice about motivating our kids this episode is jam packed with PCP gold. Dr Nick gets a little emotional at the end as he reads out guiding advice from an amazing paediatric OT about how he brings motivation and strength into his work with children and the families who support them. We hope this episode helps to g...

This was a big re-listen. This episode was first released two and a half years ago following an email from an amazing parent trying to find a way through supporting their child after another child had made them feel different and less worthy of being celebrated. This movie helps remind us that kindness, seeing the best in people and loving unashamedly are the qualities we should elevate above inte...

So many kids struggle with focusing impacting their learning, relationships and self-esteem. In this PCP Guide we look back to an episode from over 3 years ago that explores how we can best support these kids in our homes, school and the broader community. We hope it helps and please come over to our free patreon community to learn more together.

PCP Guides: supporting neurodivergent kids part 1 is out! Hi beautiful PCP community! We asked you what you'd like us to cover in future episodes and so many of you asked for topics we have covered in our 4 year back catalogue. After a team huddle we are excited to announce PCP Guides!!! We will reflect on previous episodes covering requested topics with a reflection at the beginning, new resource...

To kick off the year we explore the key components to goal setting and motivation to help set the kids we care about up for success. We talk about why this matters, the common pitfalls and how to put the science into practice in the real world. From building this early in kids to helping the out the teens who are stuck in amotivation. We are so excited to be back and we can't wait to read your ref...

In our final episode of the year we answer some important short questions about how we can have impact in the face of difficult challenges in the world right now. We then read out the reflections from some of the beautiful PCP community who generously share their journey. As always there is laughter and tears. Thank you all for being a part of PCP in 2025. We feel privileged to share this communit...

In our final topic of 2025 we explore what impacts the kids we care about in terms of their development and mental health. We explore the science and Dr Nick treats us to his big lessons from PCP this year. Please send in your best reflections, questions and advice for our reflection episode to share with the wonderful PCP community.

This is a big one folks. In this ep Nick & Billy dive deep into how we can build hope in our kids at different ages and levels of development, how hope is different to optimism and resilience, and how it can be used following set backs and failure. We discuss hope in the setting of heartbreaking experiences such as school expulsion, trauma, suicidal thinking and grief. As always we also read beaut...

Hope is an essential part of life that keeps us moving forward, especially during adversity. It's not a feeling but a skill that kids can learn if we know how to guide them. In this episode we discuss the importance of hope, how it changes through life and how the research can be used in the real world to help develop it in our kids. We hope you like it and we can't wait to read your reflections,...

In true form to the topic this reflection episode is rather playful between Nick and Billy as they explore how to play with kids. We discuss why it can be tough, how to target specific struggles, the role of educators and how play changes from kids to teens. As always there are beautiful reflections, questions and tips from the wonderful PCP community. Thank you as always and we hope you like it.

Play is one of the most important aspects of child development and mental health. Unfortunately many of us struggle to know HOW to play with kids. In this episode we discuss exactly how we can use play with children and teens to build skills in communication, empathy, emotional regulation and so much more. We hope you like the episode and we can't wait to read your reflections, questions and advic...

In this special episode we talk with the phenomenal Dr Tina Payne Bryson, New York Times best-selling author, psychotherapist, researcher and wonderful human. Tina helps us understand how the science can be translated into practical strategies regarding emotional difficulties, attachment, neurodiversity, trauma and so much more. Thank you Tina for your generosity and if you somehow don't know her...