The Happy Families Membership

Life for a neurodivergent child is a journey of highs and lows, marked by the joy of mastering new skills and the challenges of setbacks. As their parent or teacher, your support is crucial. Educators, parents, and carers of children who are diagnosed as neurodivergent, are undergoing assessment, or are suspected to be neurodivergent are invited to join us for Championing Neurodiversity. This empo...

Unpacking the crisis in youth mental health Our children are not ok. Latest national statistics indicate that mental health challenges are at an all-time high in Australian children and youth. Anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders are wreaking havoc in our schools and families (not to mention the amplification of these challenges if your child is neuro-diverse). Suicide and self-h...

Developing strength, calm and kindness in our kids “How can I help my child be more resilient?” is a question Dr Justin Coulson often hears from worried mums and dads. In this session, parents will learn the psychological secrets that build their child’s sense of identity, strengths, and growth mindset in order to perform better, be happier, and build resilience. Based on Dr Justin Coulson’s best-...

As the world evolves, so do the ways children access information.  It's crucial to understand that when it comes to sex, your child's curiosity may run deeper than you think. If they're not finding answers from you, they'll turn to other sources.  But can you be sure that what they discover will be accurate, healthy, safe, and aligned with the values you wish for your child? How equipped are you t...

Since 2010 mood disorders in children and teens, like anxiety and depression, have been steadily rising.  The rise of online gaming, Discord, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok has changed the way kids relate to one another. But it's also changed their expectations for one another - and themselves - and is associated with anxiety, perfectionism, bullying, and self-loathing. In short, our children are...

Family dynamics have shifted significantly over the last couple of decades. Children, women, and men themselves have been largely set free from the archetype of the "authoritarian father figure". But what's been left in its place?  These days the default caricature of a dad is somewhat clueless. Incompetent, goofy, irresponsible, and undisciplined.  Some dads are leaning right into it, because hey...

Mental Health is on everyone’s lips. There are countless news articles about mental health every year – in fact over the course of a typical day, there are more articles published about mental health than there are about other hot topics like AI, the risk of a recession, and even Taylor Swift! With 44% of Australian adults having experienced a mental disorder over the course of their lives, and 1...

So much internet ink has been spilled decrying the challenges of raising digital kids. In today's world, teeming with technological advancements, the risks our children face have reached unprecedented levels. The need for protection is undeniable. But… our kids are growing up in this digital environment. And frankly, it’s pretty damn awesome. The opportunity we have in front of us is unparalleled....

Parenting is one of those things we often think should just come 'naturally'. We imagine we'll be great at it (not like those family members who can't seem to get it right!) and that our kids will turn out spot on. And then... we have kids. Reality is painful for many of us. Parenting turns out to be harder than most of us imagined. We feel more tired. We have fewer answers, and the answers we tho...

What does it mean to be a good parent? Are you a good parent when your child is compliant, but a bad parent when they're not? What if they're perfect at age three and challenging at thirteen? And what if your child has additional needs? The Parenting Revolution is about parenting styles and what it takes to be a great parent. We know about tiger parents, helicopter parents, free-range parents, but...

Did you know that your child is in the most rapid period of development since toddlerhood? If your child is between the ages of nine and twelve, you are in the throes of the ‘between’ years. Not quite a child and not yet a teenager, tweens embody a very specific stage of development that once understood will revolutionise the way you parent, educate and support those in your care. Right now, befor...

How does your child approach challenges? Do they often take the easiest option? Do they sometimes give up when learning starts to get tough? Do they dislike the struggle that comes with learning something challenging?  Our relationship with challenge is one of the key elements of Learnership - the skill of learning. In this insightful and powerful session, James Anderson will show you how you can...

Sometimes school sucks... or should I say sux? Anyone who's been there knows how awful it is to be sent to what feels like prison. Every day. Friendships fail. The work is hard, or boring, or irrelevant, or all of the above. Sometimes teachers don't understand. Anxiety, ADHD, autism, or jiggly wiggly legs make school feel like torture. And it seems like it will never, ever, ever end. Parents strug...

It's a new year! You’ve probably already decided that “this is the year we’re going to get everything on track. We’ll eat well. We’ll exercise. We’ll have a good routine with the kids. 2023 is THE year!” Setting goals is great but… when we bite off more than we can chew, we get indigestion. And it's the habits and systems that underpin the goal that decide whether we’ll succeed. So how are you goi...

Raising kids has never been easy. But in recent years, research evidence indicates that parenting may be harder than it has ever been before. There are many reasons for this: an increasingly competitive culture, the decline in mental health among children and adolescents, escalating rates of depression and anxiety among parents, disconnection in relationships, and so much more. And we are burnt ou...

Of all the challenges parents face in raising children, how to “discipline” a child is one of the most contentious. Everyone has an opinion about how we should be parenting. But parents are, more than ever, confused about what is ok and what is not. Smacking is out - unless you’re part of the old-school. Yelling is the new smacking, but no one wants to yell. It feels horrible. Time-out is the disc...

Hosted by Dr Justin Coulson & presented by  Chris Bonnello Being an autistic advocate by profession, a former teacher of autistic students, and stepfather to a disabled autistic teenage girl (and of course, being a former autistic child himself), a lot of people ask Chris Bonnello for advice on how to help an autistic young person grow up to be the best they can be. You'll walk away from this...

Life, for many of us, has never felt busier. The endless roundabout of chores, shopping, financial stresses, work obligations and a thousand other niggling responsibilities is demanding enough – but when we become parents, there’s a whole new level of pressure added to the mix. How can we manage our own commitments while also encouraging our children to succeed and thrive, plus find the space to n...

In the past ten years, screens have completely upended the way we raise our children. Screens are everywhere. All the time. Social media has taken over our lives and the lives of our kids. 97% if kids are gaming. And the Internet has brought new kinds of risks into our children's lives at earlier and earlier ages. Screens affect our boys and our girls differently. Boys are caught up in a gaming in...

These days "compliance" is a dirty word in the parenting blogosphere. For many people compliance means that a parent is a demanding authoritarian, expecting children to follow orders regardless of preferences otherwise. Compliance connotes coercion and intrusiveness. As with every social media firestorm, there may be a kernel of truth to this. Compliance is not a healthy long-term objective for ou...

Did you know that... your teen's brain is actually overdeveloped, not underdeveloped? boys experience a neurologically related drop in empathy during their early teens, but girls don't? if it were brain development that created risk-taking and sensation-seeking, your 13-year-old would take bigger risks than your 17-year-old? So much of what we "think" we know about the teen brain is just not true....

Why do our toddlers and pre-schoolers behave in such challenging ways? Why won't they listen? Why can't they understand that when we say it's time to leave the park, it means we have to go? Why are they so stubbornly defiant? And why is it that they're still so unbelievably lovable and cute even while they're making a mess, having tantrums, and exhausting us? Little People, Big Feelings is a FREE...

Our children’s emotions can often feel challenging - for us, and for them. But studies show that if we can help our children understand their emotions, they can master them. And research tells us that children who are best able to regulate and understand their emotional world tend to be more confident, have better relationships with friends and family, do better academically, and enjoy greater wel...

How rewards and punishments hurt our kids, and what to do instead. Punishment and reward are the foundation of discipline for most parents. Parents would prefer not to yell, threaten, use time-out, smack, or generally get the kids in trouble... but what else is there? And when it comes to rewards, they're a pain to administer. All those stickers and gold stars. Plus, why should we have to bribe ki...

Just like holes in need of repair, tough times come in all shapes and sizes. And they inevitably make their mark on all of us.  A bad hair day. Too many nights with not enough sleep. An unexpected hiccup in long awaited plans. Health challenges. The breakdown of a meaningful relationship. The loss of a loved one.  Whether it's you who is having a tough time, your child, or the whole family – the g...