Ways to nurture your child’s self esteem.

Awesome Shaped
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Yesterday I wrote about my depressing experience in a gym changing room where a little girl sucked in her tummy when she noticed me looking at (admiring) her.

Today, I’ve decided to suggest things we can collectively challenge in our society, things that hurt us and our children. I’m a big believer in taking action!

Here’s a little taster of where I’m going with this one:

Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem

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Be careful what you say about yourself – your child is listening.

Self-Esteem
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I had an unnerving experience two days ago and haven’t quite yet recovered.

This thing happened in the changing room of my local gym.

Here’s a meme I made for the occasion. It might give you a clue as to where I’m going with this…

Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem

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Kim and Kanye are in Ireland!! (And why we give a &^%*…)

Kim and Kanye
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We have a lovely little castle with proper history that has been nicely converted into a 5 star hotel and in fairness, many celebrities have indeed stayed there. Disappointingly I missed, by mere minutes, an afternoon with a very sociable Bruce Springsteen last summer. And so when it became clear that the newlyweds, “Kimye”, (we can nickname them now ‘cos they’re practically locals) flew into Cork airport, Castlemartyr was the obvious choice destination. So we all went mad looking to confirm that we were hosting new sparkly guests, albeit briefly. It was most entertaining!

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Let’s teach, rather than blame, our teenagers.

Let's teach, rather than blame, our teenagers.
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This is my response to figures published today by the Rape Crisis Network. I refer in particular to the disturbing statistic that nearly 40% of sexual assaults of minors in Ireland are committed by under-18s. The Rape Crisis Network’s website is here if you want to view this and other reports.

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The problem with threesomes

Threesomes
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This is my response to the criticism of the Spunout.ie threesome page by Michelle Mulherin.


 

I would like to offer my opinion on today’s publicity around Spunout.ie’s section on Threesomes on their website.

I am in fact a huge fan of the website, and as a sex educator with teens myself feel an alliance with people who are willing to offer fact based sex education in a country where we are still utterly lacking in good quality sex education for second level students.

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The debate on the age of consent

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I wrote this during a time where there was much debate on the Age of Consent in Ireland. In this letter published in the Irish Times I was hoping to encourage people to really think about the pressure our young people experience, and to give them a voice. Continue reading

Blaming the Teenagers

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This was published in both the Irish Times and The Irish Examiner. I wrote this in response to growing concerns and media coverage of teenagers and their behaviours. As a psychologist who works with teens I wanted to address adult behaviour and how that impacts teen behaviour. Teen behaviour cannot and must not be seen as an isolated phenomenon. Continue reading