Philippa Perry

This was a surprisingly funny GN exploring a therapeutic relationship between counsellor and patient. Simple illustrations outline key moments, with both thoughts and the actual conversation. Underneath, the author (who is a psychotherapist) provides brief context and theory for what's going on. In this case, based on case histories but fictionalised, a successful lawyer seeks help with his kleptomania. The issues explored - dealing with unwelcome feelings, moving on with relationships and show more overall what the counselling relationship might look like, are more widely relevant. The author's comments made me laugh a lot. Education through humour. show less

Psychotherapist Pat left London (and her marriage) to live near Beachy Head and she loves it. However, when one of her clients is washed up on the local beach, Pat does not believe he committed suicide and the ambivalent approach of the local police spurs her on to investigate. Henry was well-off and about to ditch his boyfriend so there is suspect number one, but then there is also the developer who wants to build in a protected area and maybe there are more suspects.
This is a perfectly show more pleasant cosy crime caper. I did like the character of Pat but felt that many of the other characters were not quite so well-rounded. There is a little too much repetition at times but overall it's a promising start to a new series. show less

Started a little slow in the beginning if you happened to have semi-decent parents and not much trauma to deal with but picks up in content later in the book. A good starting point on communicating with children, usage of "I" statements, and emphazing with behavior. The sections are short and easy to read in brief time intervals.

Parenting is never easy. There is no right way to do it, but there are plenty of wrong ways and for those that are interested there are a plethora of books out there that claim to provide all the advice that you will ever need in raising your genetic heritage. This, however, comes with the by-line, this is a parenting book for people who don’t buy parenting books, which is quite a bold claim. Psychotherapist Philippa Perry is well placed to make this claim with two decades of experience of show more case studies and her own experience of being a parent. She concentrates on the bigger picture of being a parent rather than the minutia, concentrating on the relationship and how important that is to their well being.

We have successfully managed to get our firstborn all the way through to adulthood as she was 18 earlier this year. Not totally sure how we managed that, but we did. We were never perfect and reading this has highlighted some errors, but I wish this was around all those years ago when she was first born. If you are starting to hear yourself saying the things that your parent did then it is probably high time that you read this. It is full of sensible advice, but I wished it had more on teenagers, as it is mostly toddler focused. It does have sensible suggestions though and she re-iterates all the way through that these are suggestions and you sometimes need to go with your gut instinct. show less