Dr Ellie Atkins, Clinical Director at Headspace Guildford has been busy over the last year writing a book. It was published on 1st July 2026. You can buy it now! There is also a plan to release this title as an audio book, so watch this space!
Order it here
What Ellie says about the book:
“Parenting is hard, and we don’t talk enough about the challenges. We might love being a parent and think our children are brilliant, but we still struggle when they are dysregulated, or shut down, or finding a situation hard to manage. This is the book I need years ago, and it combines all the things that I say to parents in clinic every week. It isn’t a manual for what to do with your children. It is about you as a parent and how you cope with the most difficult job in the world”
And here is the official blurb for the book:
Combining the author’s experience as a clinical psychologist and lived experience of parenting neurodivergent children, Coping with Parenting When Your Child is Neurodivergent draws from a range of therapeutic techniques and psychological theory to propose a compassion-based approach, guiding parents through recognising and managing their own feelings in order to better to support their child.
With a focus on emotional regulation for both the parent and the child throughout, this essential book acknowledges the challenges and opportunities of parenting neurodivergent children while also providing practical strategies for effective parenting. Topics explored include, but are not limited to:
• Understanding neurodiversity and dysregulation
• Exploring your feelings about parenting
• Navigating the assessment and diagnostic process
• Making sense of a diagnosis and helping you child understand themselves
• Navigating the school system and supporting your child with school and education
• Compassion for yourself and others
• The teenage years and mental health.
An essential read for any parent to a neurodivergent child, this text will support parents in thinking about their own experiences and emotions, while also considering how this interacts with their ability to parent effectively. This may also be of interest to mental health, healthcare and education practitioners who want to better understand the experiences of neurodivergent children and their parents.
If you are still not sure, check out the reviews on Amazon to read what others are thinking of this book.
Ellie’s book is in the ACP-UK’s ‘Coping with…’ series, all written by Clinical Psychologists with lived experience of the topic they write about. You can see the series here.
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