About Me


Hi, I'm Caroline Penney

I am a parenting specialist and systemic family therapist. I have worked at a grass roots level, running a wide range of parenting groups and have written numerous different parenting courses adapted to children’s particular needs. I have recently published a book called "The Parenting Toolkit" - Simple Steps To Happy & Confident Children.
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Parenting is often seen as a skill which is instinctive and does not need to be learned

However, many parents and carers can benefit enormously from learning child-sensitive techniques which help them reflect on their parenting. The Parenting Toolkit is a unique and valuable resource for parents and carers who wish to give their children the best start in life. It is especially relevant today, when families are under so much societal pressure. Caroline Penney has drawn on her years of experience, facilitating parenting groups and working as a family therapist, to present these techniques clearly. She explains how to help your child become confident, capable, caring and able to reach their full potential, as well as offering advice on how to ensure that you are getting all the self-care that you need in order to be a good parent.
 
The book and this website are illustrated throughout with beautiful drawings by Kate Hajducka. Kate is a painter, printmaker and botanical illustrator. She has a degree in illustration from Brighton College of Art. She has trained and worked as an art therapist and worked in residential units.

The launch of her book The Parenting Toolkit: simple steps to happy & confident children, took place at The Freud Museum in North West London - The final home of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, and his daughter Anna Freud, a pioneering child psychoanalyst.

Caroline is the great granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and great niece of Emma Freud.  
Testimonials for "The Parenting Toolkit"
The Parenting Toolkit uses the secrets that family therapists know to get underneath problems and unlock what is causing them … In clear, simple and friendly language, she helps you understand, and overcome, these hurdles.’ —Steve Biddulph, author of “Raising Boys” and “10 Things Girls Need Most”
 ‘An out of the ordinary parenting book which combines practical know-how with deep psychological knowledge. Writing with a deceptive lightness of touch, Caroline Penney helps us to understand the reasons why both parents and children behave as they do. A very welcome book.’ — Dr Sue Gerhardt, author of “Why Love Matters”
Surviving family life is a big challenge, yet good-enough parenting can go a long way to refuting poet Philip Larkin’s infamous claim that mum and dad ‘f*** up’ their children. This splendid new book will greatly assist parents in negotiating the parenting minefield successfully, helping them to raise emotionally balanced, happy children.’ — Oliver James, psychologist, psychotherapist and writer
An interesting and informative book, filled with practical life examples, giving easy pictures of how to engage with our children without stress. There are many exercises for managing behaviour, listening to our children, stress management (of our and our children’s lives) and general parenting hints and tips. The examples of how we adults can work on our own behaviours and responses in order to support our children are very practical. There are also ideas for working with our friends, setting up family support groups, and listening to children, amongst others. An appendix contains some very interesting information on the theories that underpin parenting. Throughout, beautiful illustrations embellish the chapters and examples, making a delightful addition to the book.’ — Janni Nicol, Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, UK

Courses for Professionals and Course Feedback

Caroline runs courses for professionals who work individually with parents and their children on how to use The Parenting Toolkit for both learning and teaching the theory and practice of parenting education.  Here is some recent feedback on these highly popular and successful courses.

Please contact me

If you'd like to know more about parenting as a parent, carer or guardian please contact me.

If you're a professional therapist looking to build your skills in working with parents - one of our courses could be perfect for you.

If you would like to purchase a copy of my latest book - The Parenting Toolkit - there's more information here.

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My work as a family therapist and parenting specialist

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