After reading The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did), I knew I had to get Philippa Perry on the podcast. She is a renowned psychotherapist, author, journalist, and television presenter, and the wife of artist Grayson Perry.
In this episode, she helps us unpack what gets in the way of connecting with our children.
She would like children to be able to tell their parents absolutely anything. And, as parents, she says it could be dangerous to close that down. If we can have a strong healthy connection with our kids, the future can take care of itself.
We dig into:

How to have connected, trusting relationships with our children (even if we didn't have that with our own parents)

What gets in the way of having a good connection with our kids and what can enhance it

The trouble with not feeling our own pain

The generational cycles of parenting

What does it mean to give our kids 'enough' attention

Authenticity vs perfection parenting

How to help children express anger without acting out


There is so much heart and wisdom in this exchange with Philippa. I hope you can feel it too.