AUTHOR
THE AUTHOR
Parenting Through Stories are written by Dr Sarah Mundy, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and mother to three young boys.
Over the last two decades, Sarah has learnt a great deal about what helps (and hinders) family life, as well as ways to promote positive child development.
After having her first child, Sarah read a number of parenting books and found they often told a parent what to "do" to their child rather than how to work "with" them to make things easier.
What surprised her most was the lack of a story or a voice for the child within such books.
Sarah knew the significance of storytelling socially, culturally and developmentally. She felt that having books to read with her children which explicitly asked about their own feelings and experiences would help parents and children navigate tricky times
From this came the birth of Bartley’s Books and the wider Parenting Through Stories approach.
I have used my stories and knowledge to help my own boys and have seen first hand the positive impact of “Parenting Through Stories”. That's why I am so passionate about publishing the books to enable parents and children tackle everyday challenges together.
SARAH'S BACKGROUND
BSc (Hons), MSc, DClinPsy
After a first degree in Psychology and Zoology she undertook a Masters in Forensic Psychology and was subsequently awarded her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at University College, London in 2004.
Sarah relocated to Cornwall in 2005. Since then, she has specialised in working with children and families, both within statutory public services and the independent sector, culminating as a director of a large psychology practice.
In 2018 she established her own company, Amicus Psychology, through which she continues to practise as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. As well as having more time with her three young children, Sarah has been able to focus on her longstanding dream of bringing Parenting Through Stories to life. Writing the children’s books has taken her back to her father’s imaginative storytelling when she was a child, and the moments of joy and connection this brought.
THERAPEUTIC WORK
Now working primarily in adoption, Sarah helps children and their parents to develop more
secure attachment relationships. Together, they make sense of difficult early experiences and consider how these may have affected a child’s ability to let their new parents look after them and how to move forward as a family.
Her therapeutic work is based upon Dyadic Developmental Psychology, which is underpinned by the PACE approach. By embedding the guiding principles of PACE in Bartley’s Books and the accompanying Parenting Handbook her aim is to support families to put this theory successfully, and enjoyably, into practice.
