Dr Bickerton is a renowned Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, and the co-developer of the training: STAYING CONNECTED WHEN EMOTIONS RUN HIGH.

Featured in: 

• 3.4 | Bridging the Gap: Parents Relating Positively to their Child’s Mental Health Service

• 3.2 | Being a Light House: Parents Bringing Steadiness and Calm in the Storm of Self-Harm

• 1.8 | Staying Connected When Emotions Run High

Ahmed is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience working with complex children, adolescents, young adults and their families in public mental health, child protection and school settings. He also has experience in the private sector across a variety of issues. He has a special interest in Schema Therapy and Bowen Family Systems Theory.

https://www.sppsych.com.au/ 

Featured in: 

• 2.8 | Engaging the Challenge of Children’s School Avoidance (with Ahmed Tohamy & Samantha Pilcher)

Alison Illick lives in New Haven, Connecticut with her husband, Christopher, and their four sons. A former New York City public school teacher with degrees from Columbia University, she later supported her husband’s medical practice in various roles. In recent years, she has studied Bowen theory at the Princeton Family Center for Education and the Bowen Center in Washington, DC. Alison finds the framework a valuable way to understand family and work systems and focuses on managing herself within them—an interest first sparked in college and later encouraged by her mother-in-law, Selden.

Featured in: 

• 3.9 | Grandparenting Without the Drama: How the Generations Can Work Together, Not Pull Apart (with Selden & Alison Illick)

Amber McPherson, former Programs Coordinator at the Parent Hope Project.

Featured in: 

• 1.11 | When Parents Undermine Each Other (with Amber McPherson & Dr Jenny Brown)

Avrum Nadigel, B.Comm, MSW is a family and relationship therapist with over twenty years of clinical experience. 

He is the author of three books, the most recent was co-authored with the late Dr. David Freeman entitled: “Where Would You Like To Start: A master therapist on beginning psychotherapy with families.” 

Avrum co-produced three podcasts combining Family Systems theory and pop culture. He is also an urban sketcher and guitarist and songwriter.

Featured in: 

• 2.3 | Marriage and Parenting - It Takes More Than Love (with Arum Nadigel)

Dr Briony Scott is a renowned educator and advocate for young people. 

CEO of Royal Far West, supporting children in rural and remote Australia to access diagnostic and healthcare pathways. She was previously a school principal for nearly two decades and is passionate about leadership, education, young people’s voice and character development. Briony founded the Renaissance Women’s Leadership Network and was named Australian Non-Government School Principal of the Year in 2022.

Featured in: 

• 3.7 | Let Them Be: Resisting the Rush to Pathologise Adolescence (with Dr. Briony Scott)

Dr. Carrie E. Collier is a Licensed Professional Counselor, researcher and faculty member at The Bowen Center and The George Washington University. A trained Bowen family systems practitioner, she has worked with individuals, couples and families for more than two decades. Her research focuses on parenting in family systems and how families respond to challenges.

Hear more from Dr Carrie Collier:

• Finding a Self in Parenting

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/anzf.1491

Featured in: 

• 2.2 | Managing Extended Family Stress Without Adding to Parenting Worry (with Dr Carrie Collier)

Dr Dan Papero is a senior faculty member from the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Washington, DC. He has written numerous articles and book chapters on various aspects of family systems theory and family psychotherapy. 

Learn more about Dan's and his work here:

• https://www.thebowencenter.org/
• https://www.thebowencenter.org/faculty-bios/daniel-papero 

Featured in: 

• 2.7 | How Bowen Family Systems Builds Hope for Worried Parents (with Dan Papero)

Dr Justin Coulson is one of Australia's most respected relationships speakers, authors, and researchers. Passionate about understanding what helps relationships flourish, Justin has spoken to tens of thousands of people about relationships in leadership, education, and, most importantly, family life.

He is the co-host of the popular TV program Parental Guidance, and of Australia’s top ranked parenting podcast, The Happy Families podcast. He is author of six family and parenting books, and has helped thousands of Australian families with his advice and research.

Featured in: 

• 4.4 | Raising Boys to Be Good Men in a Confusing World: A Guide to Raising Boys to be Confident, Resilient and Caring (with Justin Coulson)

Kathleen Smith is a licensed therapist and mental health writer who lives in Washington, DC. She has written for popular publications such as Slate, Salon, New York Magazine, Lifehacker, Bustle, and Counseling Today, among many others. She is an associate faculty member at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family and hosts the show Family Matters, a production of the University of the District of Columbia.

Resources:

• https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Isnt-Terrible-Insecurities-Interrupt/dp/0316492531
• https://kathleensmithwrites.com/books/true-to-you/
• https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B01HYP9SJ2/about

Linda MacKay is an accredited psychotherapist & counsellor, who practices in Mudgee, Blaxland and offers online sessions. She is also a lecturer, trainer, and supervisor, with degrees and qualifications in counselling, couple and family therapy and her PhD in critical psychology (UWS). 

Linda lectures at undergraduate and postgraduate level at the University of Notre Dame, counsels private individuals, and coaches business executives who wish to optimize their performance as leaders. She is also a clinical member of PACFA & Accredited Supervisor for AAFT. 

Featured in: 

• 1.12 | Parenting with a Backdrop of Trauma and Adversity - How this Affects Building Confidence in Parenting (with Dr Linda Mackay)

Dr Lyn Worsley is a clinical psychologist, author, and director of The Resilience Centre in Sydney, Australia. She is internationally recognised for developing the Resilience Doughnut, a strengths-based model used in schools and clinical settings to help young people and families thrive. With decades of experience supporting anxious children, teens, and their parents, Dr Worsley brings a warm, evidence-informed approach to understanding and building resilience in everyday life.

Featured in: 

• 4.2 | Let’s Unpack Resilience: Parenting an Anxious, Disengaging Child With Confidence and Hope (with Dr Lyn Worsley)

Dr Marshall Ballantine-Jones is a leading specialist in online sexualisation education with more than 25 years of experience supporting children, youth, and families. As CEO of DigiHelp Publishing, Marshall designs school-based programs that address the realities of online behaviour with honesty, compassion, and practical strategies.

Featured in: 

• 4.1 | When the Internet Gets There First: Restoring Steadiness So Children Can Recover Well (with Dr Marshall Ballantine-Jones)

Elisabeth Shaw, CEO of Relationships Australia NSW and a leading clinical psychologist & family therapist, about guiding families through separation with clarity, steadiness, and care. 

Featured in: 

• 4.3 | Parenting Through Separation and Divorce: Supporting Children with Clarity and Care (with Elisabeth Shaw)

Lauren Errington is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and Clinical Family Therapist (Master of Couple & Family Therapy, UNSW) who holds clinical membership with the AASW and AAFT. She has extensive experience working in tertiary level mental health services and private practice contexts in both Australia and Scotland. 

Featured in: 

• 3.8 | Parenting Beyond Worry: Breaking Cycles & Building Hope this Mental Health Month (with Lauren Errington)

• 1.9 | Parents Becoming Good Observers of Themselves (with Lauren Errington)

Lisa Chalmers is the Director of Health & Wellbeing at Barker College. Lisa’s role involves cultivating a whole-school approach to student and staff wellbeing, fostering a holistic, supportive and healthy School environment. Developing and implementing comprehensive health and wellbeing programs that cater to the diverse needs of students, staff, and the broader school community and serve to enable excellence, an environment where students and staff thrive, and families are engaged to work in partnership with the School. 

Featured in:

• 3.6 | Partners, Not Strangers: How to Build a Positive Relationship with Your Child’s School (with Lisa Chalmers)

Marie Vakakis is the Director of The Therapy Hub and host of the podcast This Complex Life. She is an accredited Mental Health Social Worker, couple and individual therapist who works with anxiety, stress, depression, trauma, relationships and self-esteem. Her practice draws on approaches including Gottman Couples Therapy, ACT, CBT, EMDR and mindfulness, with a direct, genuine and supportive approach.

Featured in: 

• 1.14 | Parents Connecting with their Adolescents (with Marie Vakakis)

Michael DeRuyter is a family systems leadership coach, pastor, and foster and adoptive parent.

• 4 years postgraduate study at the Bowen Center for the Study of Family in Georgetown. 
• 2 years as a research fellow at the Bowen Center studying the effects of multiple foster placements on the functioning of a child over time, and the variable that contributed to a positive outcome for participants in a substance use disorder treatment court.  
• Certificate in systems thinking from Cornell University.

Featured in:

• 4.7 | Hope Beyond Repair: Parenting Foster and Adoptive Children Without the Pressure to Fix (with Michael DeRuyter)

Michelle is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker who has worked across various Child and Adolescent Mental Health teams within NSW Health, and has extensive experience in supporting families who have a child/adolescent presenting with moderate-severe mental health issues.

Featured in: 

• 2.5 | Co-regulation or Self-regulation in Parenting (with Michelle Varcoe & Dr Jenny Brown)

• 2.4 | Tantrums, Sleep Issues and Exhaustion - Staying Steady (Enough) During the Early Parenting Years (with Michelle Varcoe)

Peter N. Stearns is Professor of History Emeritus at George Mason University, where he taught courses in world history and social history. In 2021, Dr. Stearns received the American Historical Association recognition for a lifetime of distinguished scholarship  

He has taught previously at Harvard, the University of Chicago, Rutgers, and Carnegie Mellon; he was educated at Harvard University. 

Stearns is a past vice president of the American Historical Association. He has served as chair of the Advanced Placement World History committee and founded and served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Social History. Stearns is the author or editor of over 100 books and innumerable articles.  

The writings that have mostly influenced Dr Brown's works are: Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Childrearing in America; co-author of The American Child: the transformation of childhood since World War II. 

Researcher and Family Systems therapist from Kansas, USA. Phillip Klever has conducted a remarkable 20-year study of 50 couples and their multigenerational families and has written 7 peer-reviewed journal articles about the study. 

Research

• https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Phillip-Klever

Key article

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2009.00120.x

Featured in: 

• 3.3 | The Parent Balancing Act: Supportive Parenting without Overdoing It (with Phillip Kelver)

Robyn is a retired school social worker with 20 years of experience working in schools in the Chicago area. Now a private practice owner of New Legends Counselling, Coaching and Consulting, LLC Geneva, Illinois, United States.

Marriage and Family Therapy (LMFT), Clinical Social Work, (DSW, LCSW), Licensed School Social Worker (Type 73), Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Counselor (CADC), Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) with specializations in Outdoor Experiential Education and Behavioral Health.

Featured in:

• 2.1 | How Parents Can Partner with Schools to Increase Student and Family Confidence (with Robin Shultz)

Samatha is a clinical psychologist who works in private practice and public child and family mental health.

Featured in: 

• 2.8 | Engaging the Challenge of Children’s School Avoidance (with Ahmed Tohamy & Samantha Pilcher)

Selden founded the Princeton Family Center in 1987 based on Murray Bowen’s natural systems theory and is now Trustee Emerita of its educational branch. She has served on the Florida Family Research Network board and is active in the New England Study of Bowen Theory. Formerly in private practice in New Jersey and Florida (1983–2004), she now consults in Massachusetts, helping people apply Bowen theory to family, work, and social systems.

Featured in: 

• 3.9 | Grandparenting Without the Drama: How the Generations Can Work Together, Not Pull Apart 

• 1.13 | Grandparenting Relationships 

Steve has a background in social work and parish ministry. As part of Anglicare’s Family & Life Skills Education Team he runs courses and seminars in parenting, family life and relating with others. He’s also on Anglicare’s Southern Counselling Team. 

Featured in: 

• 1.15 | Parenting Courses – Are They Worth the Effort? Lessons from an Experienced Community Parent Educator (with Stephen Dinning)

Susy Lee, prize-winning author, speaker, and educator. 

Author of  'Raising Kids Who Care: Practical Conversations for Exploring Stuff That Matters, Together'.

Featured in: 

• 1.7 | Raising Kids Who Care - What is Within a Parent's Influence? (with Suzy Lee)

Training & Professional Development Co-ordinator at the Parent Hope Project

Featured in: 

• 3.5 | Q&A | Reclaiming Calm Leadership in the Digital World (with Vicki Wilkins & Dr Jenny Brown)

• 3.5 | Reclaiming Calm Leadership in the Digital World (with Vicki Wilkins & Dr Jenny Brown)

• 2.6 | Limit Setting and Responding to Children’s Misbehaviour (with Vicki Wilkins & Dr Jenny Brown)