Ann Pleshette Murphy: Parenting counselor and author.

Annie is a therapist with a private practice in London working with couples and individuals. She has extensive experience counselling parents, including those navigating separation and divorce.

Annie is a cum laude graduate of Harvard University, where she majored in psychology. She also holds a Master's degree in psychology/child development from New York University. She has completed several certificate courses at the Tavistock in London.

Prior to setting up her practice here, Annie lived in New York, where she was the parenting correspondent for ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" and the host of the weekly program "Parenting Perspectives with Ann Pleshette Murphy" on ABC- NOW. Annie's book, The 7 Stages of Motherhood: Loving Your Life Without Losing Your Mind, was published in 2004 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Her second book, The Secret of Play; How to Raise Smart, Healthy, Caring Kids from Birth to Age 12, was published by DK Publishing in 2008.

A well-known magazine journalist and editor, Annie was Editor-in-Chief of Parents magazine from 1988 to 1998 and a Contributing Editor from 1998 to 2002. During her 10-year tenure at Parents, Annie edited several ancillary publications, including Parents Expecting, Parents Baby, and Target the Family. She also helped to launch an ambitious book-publishing program, overseeing the highly successful book It Worked for Me, and editing The Parents Answer Book, an 800-page reference on children's health and development.

Annie has given talks at several London schools on such topics as: Discipline strategies that really work; Partnership parenting; Trying to do it all; How to minimise stress and Getting your children to sleep through the night - so you can too. Annie also featured in two Intelligence² debates, in London and in New York, opposing the motion "Parenting Doesn’t Matter."

A passionate advocate for young children and their families, Annie chaired the board of the Greyston Foundation in Yonkers from 1995 to 2009. Greyston provides housing, social services, and childcare for formerly homeless families. She served on the board of Zero to Three for 20 years, where she was also Board President. ZTT is the leading U.S. organization dedicated to promoting the wellbeing of infants and toddlers. From 2010 until 2012, she served on the board of the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships in London.

If you would like further information or wish to book an appointment, please get in touch.

PA@annpleshettemurphy.com

Motherhood is the defining event in a woman's life, a seismic transformation, and a continuous one: The mother your infant knew is not the same ten months, let alone ten years, later, and child number three experiences a different mum to the one his older siblings knew.

Each stage of motherhood has its own challenges and opportunities and the experience of raising our children forces us to hone muscles we never knew we had; to question our choices and goals; to reshape our relationships with family, friends, our spouses; and, most important, to rethink who we are and where we're going.
Drawing on her years as a therapist, parenting educator, and the parent of two children, as well as dozens of interviews in the UK and US, Annie offers advice and practical tips on how to manage each stage of motherhood, from the roller-coaster ride of children's early years through the tumult of the teen years.

Parents know and experts agree that playtime enables children to develop an understanding of who they are, make exciting discoveries about the world, build their vocabularies and math skills, strengthen relationships, and experience the healing power of a shared laugh.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that too often is over-scheduled and increasingly wired, which can confound our best efforts to make unstructured play a priority.
This book highlights the key developmental milestones that affect the way our children play and describes the kind of play that best enhances their development.