I'm a Clinical Psychologist on a mission to help parents who love work and their families to stop apologising and start enjoying life more. Therapy. Consultancy.
I can support your mental wellbeing through pregnancy and back into work. Hypnobirthing.
30/01/2026
Hi I’m Rosie, I’m a Clinical Psychologist, but I’m also a mum to three AuDHD children.
I’ve been gaslit by professionals, I’ve fought at tribunals, and I’ve hidden under the duvet.
I started this account because I was tired of the “blame the mother” narrative. It nearly destroyed me when my kids were little and their differences started to become clear even though I used to work in learning disabilities and knew already that most of the advice parents are given is rubbish.
I fought my way through it with the help and support of many other psychologists, I’m lucky to call friends and colleagues.
Now I’m here to help you navigate the system without losing your mind or your identity.
Follow me for the truth about SEND parenting, from the rage to the ridiculous joy and some practical tips for thriving through the chaos.
20/01/2026
If I had a penny for every time I worried about my autistic kids’ diet... 🫠
I’ve officially given up trying to get them to eat the rainbow every evening. Why? Because food is complicated for our kids. It’s not just “picky eating” it’s often:
🧠 Social Anxiety: The pressure of mealtime expectations.
🤢 Sensory Issues: Flavours and textures that feel physically revolting.
😨 Fear of the Unknown: Trying something new requires a leap of faith they can’t make on a hard day.
🛑 Control: Managing diet to ease fears of choking or vomiting.
“Safe foods” are reliable. A chicken nugget never surprises you with a weird texture. A carrot might. When life feels chaotic, relying on predictable, often ultra-processed food isn’t “lazy parenting.” It is preventing starvation and allowing them to regulate.
A healthy relationship with food never starts with force-feeding a terrified child. instead, we can lower demands and understand their sensory profile.
I recommend following for tips on offering variety without pressure. But my kids can have 100 days in a row of plain pasta and I will not feel bad about it.
Release the guilt. Pass the pasta. 🍝
Save this for when you need the reminder. x
16/01/2026
To the SEND parent hovering by the slide while everyone else drinks coffee...
I remember the “shuttle run.” Running between the soft play mats and the electric doors to stop my child sprinting into the road.
I watched the other mums chatting, drinking hot tea, oblivious. I felt so lonely.
If that is you today: I see you.
You are working twice as hard.
You are doing an amazing job protecting your child.
You are not doing it wrong. Your child just needs more, and you are giving it.
07/01/2026
Real self-care for SEND parents isn’t about escaping your life (because often, we can’t). It’s about surviving the sensory onslaught of it.
After auditing my own stress, I realised I was melting down at 5pm daily. Why? Because the oven was hot, the kids were loud, and I was overstimulated .
My self-care now looks like:
🎧 Wearing Loop earplugs during the witching hour.
❄️ Having ice-cold water ready in the fridge.
💨 Opening a window when the cooking heat hits.
It’s not glamorous. But meeting your own sensory needs is the difference between a meltdown and making it to bedtime .
Save this for when you need a reminder that your sensory needs matter too.
05/01/2026
Realistic self care for SEND parents?
Professor Emily Oster shared stats recently showing working mothers spend more time with their kids now than stay-at-home mums did in the 70s .
For SEND parents? Triple that intensity.
We can’t just “pop the kids in a playpen.”
We are the emotional regulator.
We are the safety net.
We are prompting or supporting the eating, the drinking, the toileting .
So when the wellness industry tells you to spend 30 minutes with a red light mask or take a cold plunge, it feels like a sick joke .
You aren’t failing at self-care. The standard definition of self-care fails you.
I’ve created a guide for realistic wellbeing. The kind that fits into a life with zero minutes to spare.
👇 subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll send you the free guide.
03/01/2026
Working out with AuDHD children looks different. You are inspiring for whatever you manage. Check out my link in bio for realistic self care tips when days look like this! ❤️
03/01/2026
Trying to exercise as a parent to neurodivergent children?
I see you and whatever you can manage is bloody inspiring.
Check out the link in my bio for realistic self care for the days like these 😂
29/12/2025
I’d ban the word “just” from the lives of ND families
Who wants to join the movement?
Can we make 2026 the year that we finally stop pretending kids are lazy and manipulative all all of us adults start working together to try and understand and help them?
Anyone else feel the rage when someone tells them their child is “just” anything?
We can do so much better than that!
26/12/2025
Parents of ND kids do not need to do more
Exhausted?
Me too.
You are doing ENOUGH.
Often as parents of neurodivergent/Austistic/ADHD children we have to do things differently. That does not mean we should always be doing more, more, more.
You’ll find my guide to doing a bit less and enjoying betwixtmas a bit more in my bio.
23/12/2025
I’m not proud of how I reacted the first time my autistic daughter rejected her presents.
I didn’t understand. I thought she was ungrateful. Spoiled.
Now I understand it was anxiety, confusion and overwhelm that caused the explosion.
Now I do presents very differently.
Read the full story and how I handle presents now on my substack (link in bio)
22/12/2025
Why is the “most wonderful time of the year” often the most stressful? 🤯
I noticed something, all of us, even families with “neurotypical” children talk about the stress of expectations at Christmas pretty non stop.
But for us SEND parents, the pressure is different. We are dealing with a ton more cognitive overload as we try and plan how to make Christmas actual fun for our children who might find everything about it really hard.
If you are feeling like you are failing because you aren’t “full of festive joy,” please stop.
You are doing your best to manage big emotions in a world that isn’t built for your kids. You are a veritable Christmas angel.
Read my guide on how to lower demands and actually enjoy the holidays over on Substack.
18/12/2025
If the travel is too much for your AuDHD family this year, it is okay to stay home.
If you are travelling here are my top three tips:
🚗 Pack safe foods, sensory toys, sensory supports (ear defenders etc) and all of the screens plus multiple chargers.
🚗 Use social stories to explain the journey before, during and after.
🚗 Stop at parks, not service stations because no one comes out of Cobham services feeling regulated..
You do not owe anyone your presence if the cost is your safety or sanity.
Read my substack post (link in bio) to hear the tale of my daughter’s break for freedom on the M5 and how I came to embrace the low demand travel life!
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Hypnobirthing, Psychological Therapy and Mindful Parenting
My blog started after I had my daughter, Robyn, in December 2016. At first I was just blogging about my attempts to parent her mindfully through some fairly difficult times. As I met more new mums and heard their (often horrendous) birth stories I was also inspired to start writing about birth and the positive impact hypnobirthing had on my life. As a Clinical Psychologist and a friend I was upset to see the impact difficult births were having on my friend’s experiences of parenthood.
When Robyn was ten months I went back to work in the NHS as a Clinical Psychologist. I was already pregnant with Leo and my husband was deployed overseas for seven months. Robyn got sick and with no family to look after her and no partner to support me I rarely made it to work. Mindful parenting and my mental health took a nose dive. I quickly realised that something had to change.
At Christmas I had a light bulb moment! My heart was telling me that I wanted to help women like the ones I was having coffee with on a regular basis. The women who had been robbed of the empowering experience of birth. I also wanted to help those who might be struggling to enjoy parenthood for other reasons or who, like me, found themselves struggling to be the parent they want to be due to difficult circumstances.
So Mind, Body and Baby was born! I battled the beast from the East to get up to Solihull and train as a hypnobirthing teacher with the Calm Birth School and I began seeing clients for psychological therapy where we were living in North London.
Then this happened...
And we also moved to Plymouth for my husband’s work. So I went back to just blogging for awhile, this time about everything birth, parenting and mental health. Writing is therapy for me and I love it. You can read the blog here.
I wanted to get to know the pregnant ladies and other baby businesses in the area so in December I co-hosted a pregnancy pamper afternoon with Nick from Blossoming Bumps and Babies. It was amazing so we will do it again. I also had the pleasure to introduce 20 couples to hypnobirthing at a taster session and to work with three couples who have all now brought their beautiful babies into the world. It was a pretty awesome month...
And now I’m fully back! Offering psychological therapy and hypnobirthing online and in person from my consulting room in Mutley, Plymouth. I’m continuing my mission to help all new mums enjoy pregnancy, birth and parenthood and I especially want to help those who had a difficult birth the first time round.
This year I am going to I’m planning to set up a facebook community and a podcast specifically to help those who have suffered birth trauma. I’m revamping my instagram as a place to inspire women to celebrate their power (@mindful.rosie). I’m also planning big things for 2019 around mindful parenting and more events to pamper pregnant ladies and new mums. So watch this space!
