
3 Simple Strategies to Supercharge Your Attitude
I don’t like to deal with absolutes… always, never, everything, nothing. After all, I’m a research scientist. For people like me, I prefer statements like “it depends”. I try to avoid being ...

Why Advice About Alcohol Falls on Deaf Teen Ears (and What You Can Do About It)
In late 2019, shortly before COVID-19 began to do its damage, I was in a coastal NSW high school talking to students in Grades 9 and 10 about the latest alcohol statistics. Those stats tell a very ...

3 Simple Tips for Managing Screen Time for the Whole Family
Have we all become slack-jawed zombies, staring blankly at our screens? According to research from around the globe, one of the most significant impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on parents and ...

My 7 yr-old Only Eats Chips
Dealing with a fussy eater can be a challenge. Poor eating habits in middle childhood and the tween years tend to be long-lasting. We need to take them seriously. Dear Dr Justin
My beautiful ...

Social Skills Are The Secret To Stronger Emotional Immunity
This blog is in partnership and sponsored by Nutricia. Social skills are a critically important component of strengthening our children’s emotional immunity to life’s big challenges, and for ...

Are your kids ‘fun’? It matters.
Fun kids are laughing, playing and generally having a good time on the playground. But they’re also building skills that will lead to better relationships.
Before I start, I have to be clear: I ...

Delaying Sex in the Teen Years – It’s Good But Not For The Reasons You Think
Do you remember how sex-obsessed you were as a teen? Or your friends? Even if you weren’t doing it, chances are you were talking about it, asking about it, and thinking about it. Sure, it starts...

A Roadmap for Co-Parents During COVID-19
Parenting is an exercise in organisation, communication, and flexibility at the best of times. Co-parenting, particularly in blended families, is even more complicated. And in the midst of a pandemic,...

How to Stop Telling and Yelling, and How to Connect With Your Teen
‘Get up!’ ‘Hurry up! It’s time to go.’ ‘Do your homework now. You should have done it already!’ ‘You will study tonight.’ Nobody likes to be told what to do. It gets ...

How to Deal With Child to Parent Aggression
Aggressive behaviour by a child towards a parent is one of the least studied areas of domestic violence. This is due in large part because parents are reluctant to admit that it happens. Many ...