With a doctorate from UCL and training in family therapy from The Tavistock, Martha has 25 years experience in this field. Her first book, How to Be the Grown-Up, published by Transworld is 2024, became an instant Sunday Times Bestseller. She’s also published in peer reviewed papers and regularly comments in national newspapers. She is a chartered member of The British Psychological Society and a practitioner psychologist registered with the HCPC.
Martha’s expertise is in parenting, child development, and paediatric health. Fluent in English, Spanish and French, as a result of her international upbringing, she has a deep interest in how culture, language, and identity (race, sexuality, gender) intersect and influence our view of the world. She specialises in helping children and their parents cope with distress by taking a holistic systems approach that values the individual, their family, and the networks around them.
Striving to make the science of psychology accessible to everyone, her thriving Instagram community has come to trust the calm, and empathetic way she tackles big subjects. She created the Confident Parent online courses to make these topics accessible for all. From how to talk about current affairs, death, consent, gender, and sex, as well as the small, but critical, day to day challenges such as getting children to eat their vegetables and brush their teeth! Martha focuses on our common humanity and the topics that are relevant in the here and now to support parents in building confidence and feeling less alone. Martha strongly believes that focusing on the parent-child relationship is the key to effective change, rather than trying to modify children’s behaviour.
Martha has worked with life limiting and life shortening conditions at hospitals across the country and was the Lead Psychologist for the East of England Diabetes Network for five years. She developed the annual review psychology protocol for Cystic Fibrosis and set up Teen and Young Adult Cancer services at Guy’s Hospital. She worked as a mentor for the Valued Voices Mentoring Scheme, aimed at aspiring clinical psychologists from racially minoritised backgrounds.
Martha has a private practice based in London and is regularly invited to present workshops at national and international conferences. She delivers training to individuals and businesses including talks on resilience, parenting in the age of Smartphones, emotional regulation for parents and children, and parental burnout. She regularly gets invited to speak on podcasts and radio, including being an expert guest on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Parenting Club. She regularly works with brands including Amazon, Cbeebies, Tesco Mobile and Yoto.
