The Parent Book.
Therapist-written support for parents
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Family life and behaviour

Difficult conversations

What needs saying.

Parents put some conversations off, often for years, because the right moment never quite arrives: death, sex, divorce, their own diagnosis, or a family secret their child is starting to sense. If you’re dreading one of them, these pages suggest how to start, what to say first and what to do if it goes badly.

What to do first and who else can help are free to read and to print. So is the first chapter you open.

What the library holds on difficult conversations

For a child aged

From the therapists

What to do first

The conversation you’re dreading almost always does less damage than the silence around it. Children already know something is happening; what they don’t have is the words for it.

  1. Decide on the one true sentence you need to say, and write it down. You’ll need it when your nerve goes.
  2. Say it early in the day, not at bedtime, and sit side by side if that’s easier than face to face.
  3. Answer what you’re asked, then stop. Say you’ll come back to it, and then make sure you do.

If you are worried about a child’s safety

Safeguarding: what to do and who to tellUrgent help

Chapters

3 on difficult conversations

The long reads, each on one situation, written by a therapist.

Quick tips

62 on difficult conversations

Short pieces for the moment in front of you, each with things to try.

Friendships & social life

Alcohol and the First Parties

Talk about drink before the first party, so your teenager knows your rules and that they can always ring you.

Try this

  • Talk about drink before the first party, and ask what your teenager has seen.
  • If your teenager is very drunk, stay with them; if you think it’s alcohol poisoning, call for emergency help. Call 999. Help is free and available at any hour.

From the tip

If your teenager seems to be drinking to cope, drinks alone, or you are worried about how much they drink, talk to your GP.

Spiking can look like being very drunk. If you suspect it, get medical help early and report it to the police. The person who was spiked is never to blame. If your teenager tells you someone did something sexual to them while your teenager was drunk, or an older person is giving them alcohol, stay calm, thank them for telling you, don’t promise to keep it secret, and act that day. If that person lives in your home, go straight to children’s social care or the police. A national child protection helpline will talk it through with you. NSPCC, 0808 800 5000. Email help@nspcc.org.uk. Mon-Fri 10am-4pm by phone; email 11am-4pm, seven days a week. An email sent when the service is closed is not received. If the NSPCC service is closed and the concern cannot wait, call the police on 101. You can also contact the child’s local out-of-hours children’s social care, social work or social services team. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Help is free.

Alcohol poisoning can look like confusion, being sick, slow or irregular breathing, pale or blue-tinged skin, a fit, or passing out and being hard to wake. If your teenager is very drunk, stay with them and don’t leave them to sleep it off alone: they could be sick while drowsy and choke. If you think they have alcohol poisoning, call for emergency help. Call 999. Help is free and available at any hour.

Bodies & growing up

The Day Your Child Asked About Sex

Give a brief, accurate answer when your child asks how babies are made, then stop.

Try this

  • Answer at the level your child asked it, and keep it brief, accurate and matter-of-fact.

Bodies & growing up

The Talk Before It Is Needed

Aim for eighteen short conversations about puberty over two or three years, starting early.

Try this

  • Start talking about puberty early, briefly and in passing, before it’s urgent.

From the tip

Start talking about puberty early, briefly and in passing, long before anyone in the family has an urgent reason to. When a seven-year-old asks why their older cousin’s voice sounds different, answer them then and there. Do the same when an eight-year-old comments on the bra on the washing line: “Yes, that’s what bodies do as they get older. It happens to everyone. We can talk about it more if you want.” Then move on to something else. Your child has the information, and knows it’s a subject the family doesn’t flinch at.

More quick tips on difficult conversations

The rest of each tip, with more to try and why it works, is in the library.

Things to do together

13 on difficult conversations

Small, repeatable things to do with your child, with what to watch for and when to get help.

To do together · About 20 min

The walk with no agenda

Walk with your child at the same time each week, side by side. Some weeks they will talk, and you still go on the weeks they do not.

What it is for. Many children say the hardest things when nobody is looking straight at them. A regular walk gives your child a chance to say them, without any pressure to.

  1. The first step Choose a time you can keep most weeks, and a route you both know. A familiar walk is easy to start.

Safety. For under-fives, hold hands near traffic; the looking walk is best on a quiet route.

When to get help. If your child tells you that someone is hurting them, that they are hurting themselves, or that they do not want to be alive, finish the walk calmly, thank them for telling you, do not promise to keep it secret, and act that day, using the routes under “If you need help right now”, at the foot of every page. If a change in your child’s mood or behaviour lasts for several weeks, gets worse, or begins to affect sleep, eating or school, talk to their school and your GP.

The other four steps, and your part in it, are in the library.

More to do together

  • To do together

    A word that means “come and get me”

    Agree a code word with your teenager that means “come and get me”, with no telling-off that night, so that they can always leave somewhere they don’t want to be.

    About 15 min · Ages 11 to 18

  • To do together

    Cooking one thing together

    Cook one dish together each week, side by side, and give your child a real job. If they want to talk, they can do it while they chop.

    About 45 min · Under 18 · With a sheet to print

  • To do together

    A box for the memories

    After a death, make a box together for things that remind your child of the person, and a page of what they remember. Your child chooses what goes in, and the box is theirs.

    An afternoon to start · Ages 5 to 16 · With a sheet to print

  • To do together

    A film, and the conversation you do not force

    Choose a film with some care, watch it side by side, and do not ask questions afterwards. If your child wants to talk, they will.

    The length of a film · Ages 7 to 16 · With a sheet to print

  • To do together

    A plan for the party

    Agree a plan with your teenager before each party, including how they get home and what they do if things go wrong.

    About 15 min · Ages 13 to 18

  • To do together

    Hands busy, side by side

    Colour, build or make things side by side, each of you on your own thing. Nothing is asked of your child, and nothing they make is marked.

    About 20 min · Under 13 · With a sheet to print

  • To do together

    Play me something

    Your child picks a song and plays it to you. You listen to the end, and ask one question about it.

    About 10 min · Ages 11 to 18 · With a sheet to print

  • To do together

    Solving it together

    When nobody is upset, pick one problem that keeps causing rows, hear your child’s side of it first, then say yours, and work out a plan you can both keep.

    About 20 min · Ages 9 to 18

  • To do together

    The interesting bit and the hard bit

    Ask your child one question at the end of the day, at supper or on the way home: what was interesting, and what was hard. Then answer it yourself.

    About 5 min · Ages 5 to 13

  • To do together

    You go to their thing

    Your child chooses a film, a book, a song or a game they care about. You watch it, read it or play it, and ask one curious question.

    An evening, or an afternoon · Ages 11 to 18 · With a sheet to print

  • To do together

    Your body belongs to you

    Teach your child the NSPCC’s Underwear Rule a few minutes at a time, at bath time or getting dressed: their body belongs to them, and they can tell you any secret that worries them.

    About 5 min · Under 11 · With a sheet to print

  • To do together

    A letter they don’t have to answer

    If your teenager may be working out who they are, a short letter can tell them what is hard to say face to face: that you love them, and that they don’t have to reply.

    About 20 min · Ages 11 to 18

22 on difficult conversations

Made to be printed, kept, and handed on.

To print and keep

The guide to difficult conversations

What to do first, a few things to try and who else can help, together in one guide. Free to print and keep, or to hand to the other parent, a grandparent or the school.

See the sheet

Who else can help with difficult conversations, on a sheet of its own.

Books and reading

32 on difficult conversations

Chosen by the therapists who write the library: books for you and to read with your child, and pages from organisations we trust.

For you 20

  • Cover of The Opposite of Spoiled by Ron Lieber
    The Opposite of Spoiled Ron Lieber A financial journalist on talking openly with children about money, including pocket money, work, giving and what the family can afford. American in detail, but the principles translate. Affiliate link: we earn a small commission

Also on this shelf

  • Cover of Listen by Kathryn Mannix
    Listen Kathryn Mannix
  • Cover of Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton & Sheila Heen
    Difficult Conversations Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton & Sheila Heen
  • Cover of How to Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
    How to Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
  • Cover of How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber & Julie King
    How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen Joanna Faber & Julie King

And 15 more. Every book on the shelf, with a therapist’s note on what it is good for, is in the library.

To read with your child 4

Also on this shelf

  • Cover of My Autism Book: A Child’s Guide to Their Autism Spectrum Diagnosis by Gloria Dura-Vila
    My Autism Book: A Child’s Guide to Their Autism Spectrum Diagnosis Gloria Dura-Vila · Ages 5 to 8
  • Cover of The Colour Thief: A Family’s Story of Depression by Andrew Fusek Peters and Polly Peters
    The Colour Thief: A Family’s Story of Depression Andrew Fusek Peters and Polly Peters · Ages 5 to 8
  • Cover of What Happened to You? by James Catchpole
    What Happened to You? James Catchpole · Ages 4 to 7

Every book on the shelf, with a therapist’s note on what it is good for, is in the library.

To read online 8

  • NSPCC

    How to talk to children about difficult topics

    How to open conversations about divorce, illness, death, drugs, sex and online risks, using books, TV storylines and many small talks rather than one big one.

  • NHS

    Talking to your teenager

    Ten plain rules for talking with a teenager: do not judge, do not assume you know what is wrong, pick your battles, and ask questions that invite more than a shrug.

  • Child Bereavement UK

    Explaining to a child that someone has died

    Answers the questions parents dread: who should tell a child, when and where, what words to use, how much to say about how someone died, and whether to show your own grief.

  • NSPCC

    Talk PANTS: a conversation to help keep children safe

    The NSPCC’s simple framework for teaching young children that their body belongs to them, that some secrets should not be kept, and whom to tell if something feels wrong.

  • NHS

    Talking to your child about feelings

    How to help a child put feelings into words, including reading clues in their play, and what to do when a child is too frightened to talk or is showing it through behaviour.

  • NSPCC

    Healthy relationships

    How to talk to children about relationships, sex and consent, what a healthy relationship looks like, and warning signs of an unhealthy or controlling one.

  • YoungMinds

    Parenting with a mental health condition

    For a parent living with their own mental illness: how it can shape family life, how to talk to your child about it at their level, and where support exists for both of you.

  • Place2Be

    Talking to my child about race and discrimination

    Why these conversations feel awkward, what research shows children already notice about race at a young age, and ways to talk about racial identity and unfairness.

Podcasts and films

16 on difficult conversations

Podcast episodes, talks and films, each chosen for a reason.

Podcasts 7

Also on this shelf

  • Ask Lisa: Untangling Family Life

    104: How Do I Support My LGBTQ+ Daughter?

  • Ask Lisa: Untangling Family Life

    153: Encore: How Do We Help Kids Through Divorce?

  • Thriving Kids

    How to Talk to Kids About Death and Grief

  • Good Inside with Dr. Becky

    Helping Kids Through Loss with Grief Expert David Kessler

And two more. Every episode on the shelf, with a therapist’s note on what it is good for, is in the library.

Films 9

  • YouTube · 3 min

    Brené Brown on Empathy

    Brené Brown, YouTube

    A three-minute animation on the difference between empathy and sympathy, why “at least” rarely helps, and what connection sounds like. Teenagers tend to enjoy it too.

Also on this shelf

  • YouTube · 2 min

    Connecting with my teenager | Place2Be’s Parenting Smart

    Place2Be, YouTube

  • YouTube · 2 min

    How to have difficult conversations with your child

    YoungMinds, YouTube

  • YouTube · 5 min

    Tips for talking for parents and carers

    Anna Freud, YouTube

  • YouTube · 4 min

    Childhood Trauma, War and Conflict (with English subtitles) | UK Trauma Council

    UK Trauma Council, YouTube

And four more. Every film on the shelf, with a therapist’s note on what it is good for, is in the library.

Who else can help

This usually starts at school rather than at the surgery. The adults who see your child every day are the first people to tell, and often the fastest route to a change. The GP is there if it persists or deepens.

Where to start

  • Your child’s school

    The pastoral lead, the head of year, or the form tutor. Free, already knows your child, and often the quickest way to get something changed at school.

    Before or alongside anything else. A school cannot act on what it has not been told, and what you bring is often what it did not have.

  • Your GP

    The gateway to everything the NHS offers a child: paediatric assessment, a referral to CAMHS, and support for you as the parent.

    Ask for a double appointment. Describe the pattern over weeks rather than the worst single day, and say plainly what you are worried about. Bring a written list; the ten minutes go quickly.

    www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-gp

  • Private therapy, if you can meet the cost

    A registered counsellor or psychotherapist, found through the BACP or NCPS directories. Waiting lists are shorter than the NHS and you choose who your child sits with.

    When waiting is the problem, or when you want a particular kind of help. What to look for, and what to expect, is set out in our guide to finding a therapist.

    theparentbook.com/finding-a-therapist

For difficult conversations

  • Coram Family Lives

    A free, confidential helpline for any parenting or family worry, by phone, live chat, WhatsApp or email, staffed by trained family support workers.

    When you need to talk it through with someone, about your child or about how you are managing, and you do not need a specialist to do it.

    Coram Family Lives helpline 0808 800 2222 · Mon-Fri 9am-9pm; weekends 10am-3pm; closed bank holidays · Live chat and WhatsApp 07441 444125 at the same hours; email askus@coramfamilylives.org.uk · Outside those hours the line is closed. Samaritans answer at any hour on 116 123, and Shout answer if you text the word SHOUT to 85258.

    www.coramfamilylives.org.uk/how-we-can-help/confidential-helpline

  • Action for Children Parent Talk

    A free one-to-one webchat with a trained parenting coach, and a library of articles by age on behaviour, sleep, neurodiversity and family life.

    When you want to talk it through with someone in writing, this week, without a referral.

    Free one-to-one webchat with a parenting coach, Mon-Fri, with evening slots on Mon and Thu; check the site for current times · Parent Talk+ by phone or video for parents of children with additional needs, up to eight free sessions

    parents.actionforchildren.org.uk