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Nurturing the young: Chinese Medicine principles to help children thrive – a CPD day via Zoom on 5th November
This is a day for both practitioners and parents who are interested in how to help children develop into resilient and healthy adults. Over 1300 years ago, Sūn Sīmião wrote extensively about the importance of nurturing the young. These days, parents are faced with an overwhelming amount of often contradictory advice about how to raise happy and healthy children. Yet
Acupuncture for child and teen anxiety webinar: Sunday 11th October 4pm BST
This afternoon I am giving a 4 hour webinar (4 CEUs) with Healthy Seminars, entitled ‘Acupuncture for childhood and teen anxiety‘. I do not know of a better way of helping anxious children than with acupuncture. It can transform a child’s life from being difficult to enjoyable. In the webinar, I will discuss what makes a child
Discount code for ‘Why do children become ill?’ webinar
A few weeks ago, I recorded a one hour webinar for the Singing Dragon library entitled ‘Why do children become ill?’ Chinese Medicine has so much to offer on this topic, at a time when levels of chronic physical illness and mental/emotional illness in children are escalating. Until the end of October, you can purchase the webinar
Forgotten Victims of Covid 19: dealing with the emotional damage to children of the pandemic
Last week, I took part in a live webinar with Julian Scott and Robin Green where we discussed some of the impacts of Covid on the mental health of children. We covered the different way children have responded from a 5 Element perspective, how to support them as they return to the clinic, the use of Bach
Why do children become ill?
This is a big question which Chinese Medicine has more answers to than any other system of medicine I know. Please join me tomorrow (thursday) at 8pm for this free, one hour webinar, hosted by Singing Dragon where I discuss what makes children ill. To register, go to Singing Dragon’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/SingingDragon. I will be
Paediatric masterclass: addressing the emotional needs of children according to the 5 personality types
Last week, Julian Scott, Robin Ray Green and I did a short, free webinar where we chatted about the impact on children of Covid 19 and how our society has responded to it. This Tuesday, we are doing a deep dive into how the 5 personality types have responded differently, and how to help each type when
Why teenagers are neither children nor adults – free, informal Q & A session this evening!
At 9pm BST today, I will be doing the first in a series of 3 informal Q & A sessions with Healthy Seminars entitled – What I wish I had included in my Book. This evenings session will focus on treating teenagers. There will be another on 10th September focussing on shonishin and the final one will
Free webinar next week: Dealing with the emotional damage to children: the forgotten victims of Covid 19
Since going back to practice after lockdown, I have become acutely aware of the enormous impact on children of the Covid 19 pandemic and the world’s response to it. Although children are some of the least vulnerable to the physical affects of the virus, many have suffered a lot emotionally and psychologically. Next Tuesday, I am taking
Rebecca Avern talking about teenagers on the Qiological podcast
I was really excited to be invited as a guest on Michael Max’s wonderful Qiological podcast. We had a really wide ranging and interesting discussion on all things adolescent – from the Chinese Medicine view of puberty, to the challenges of being a teen and to working with teenagers in the treatment room. We also focussed on
Health is in the palm of your child’s hand
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, I have been contacted by parents who are anxious about the impact the situation will have on their child. Many children will be off school for months, unable to see friends or partake in most of their usual activities. There is no getting away from the fact that this time is throwing up enormous
The yin and yang of adolescence: WHAT is going on with my child?
I hear the same story time and time again in my paediatric clinic. The basic theme is – one moment a parent felt connected to their child, needed and loved. Suddenly, they feel as if their child hates them, doesn’t want to be around them and that they have lost their connection with them. When listening to heartbroken and concerned
Now is the perfect time to take a deeper look at your family dynamics
It was Tolstoy who wrote that ‘Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’. Much as I hate to argue with one of my literary heroes, I would say that no two families are alike, whether happy or not, even if they appear to be on the surface. The dynamics within a family are as unique as the
Net of Knowledge free webinars: featuring Rebecca Avern talking about teenagers!
Net of Knowledge have put together a fantastic resource for practitioners during lockdown. They have organised a free webinar a day throughout April. I am delighted to be giving one of them on Wednesday 15th April, entitled Supporting Teenagers During An Extraordinary Time. Please click on the link to register: https://netofknowledge.com
Easy and effective massages to promote good sleep in your child
Many parents have told me recently that their babies and children are not sleeping as well as usual. This might be due to a combination of heightened anxiety in the household due to the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, the longer days and the rising yang qi which is resonant of the arrival of spring. There are as many reasons
What do young children most need from their parents during this extraordinary time?
For most kids in the UK, this is the start of the second week when they would have been in school. There are, most likely, many weeks ahead. So, as parents, how can we best help them to adapt to this time? Primary school children are, developmentally, still very much focussed on their parents and family. The world of what
Are your teens now at home for the foreseeable future? What will be important to them and how can you support them?
Yesterday I watched the excitement and elation of five pre-teens and young teens as they heard the news that school was going to be out for the next few weeks at least. One of the first things they did was to download apps to make sure they could easily communicate as a group if they were not able
The Panda Clinic and paediatric acupuncture feature in BAcC film ‘To The Point’
Yesterday, I went to a parliamentary reception at the Houses of Parliament, for the launch of the British Acupuncture Council’s To the Point film and the Scope of Acupuncture 2020 report. This is to raise awareness of acupuncture as an effective treatment for a variety of health conditions. I am delighted that paediatric acupuncture played such a prominent role
When teething is a tyranny – and what you can do about it
There is a view that we blame everything on teething. When a baby or toddler is grouchy, not sleeping or not eating, it is all too easy to say ‘ah, she must be teething’. But whilst there are, of course, other reasons for our little ones to be unhappy or lose their appetite, the reality is that teething can be a
Eating disorders: how can we help guard against them in our young people?
This week (March 2-8th) is eating disorders awareness week. It is both sad and shocking that eating disorders amongst young people in the western world seem to be on the rise. Whilst many in the developing world are starving, more and more children and teens in the developed world are starving themselves. If they are not starving themselves, many have
You love your child, but does your child feel loved?
It is a curious fact that nearly all parents love their children dearly, yet so many children (either during childhood or later on in adulthood) say that they did not feel loved during their childhood. In the clinic today, I saw a 15-year-old boy who talked of how he felt nothing he did was good enough in his
‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ and why to avoid asking kids this question…
A sixteen-year-old came to my clinic for treatment yesterday and said she was feeling anxious. As we explored the reasons for her anxiety, it became clear that the nub of it was connected with her fears of the future. Specifically, she was anxious that she did not know what kind of work she wanted to do. What struck me most
When a tummy ache has little to do with the stomach…
In my clinic today, I noticed a theme. Several children came in with symptoms that had arisen or become worse after an emotional upset. A ten-year-old girl developed a painfully sore throat after a sleepover which went badly. A thirteen-year-old girl, who suffers from chronic fatigue (post-viral) syndrome, deteriorated when her mother went away for a few days. The symptoms of
Children need to be bored sometimes
Children in affluent societies are often perceived as having everything. Playrooms bursting with toys, technological devices that keep them entertained for hours, and streaming services that mean there is always something to watch. But does this material abundance mean these children want for nothing or have we as a society misunderstood what it is children really need? One
BAcC Film featuring the Panda Clinic!
I am really excited that paediatric acupuncture takes a lead role in the BAcC’s new film, ‘To The Point’, which highlights the diverse and high-level work of acupuncturists working in different settings throughout the UK. The BAcC and their film crew came to the Panda Clinic for a day in the Summer and filmed a variety of