Blueprint: How our childhood makes us who we are

Description

'The best book I've read this year ... It's written in such a beautiful way' - Dr Suzi Gage, Book Shamblespodcast This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to understand the psychology and the science behind what makes them them! - Professor Tanya Byron 'This book walks the line between being absolutely fascinating yet accessible. It made me look at how we are raising our kids, as well as my own upbringing, but did so in a totally judgement free way. Loved it' - Clemmie Telford From birth to adulthood, Blueprint tells you what you need to know about how you became who you are Have you ever wondered how your early life shaped you? From beginning to say simple words like 'mama' and learning how to walk around unaided, to the first day of school and forming new friendships, everyone has been a child. The roots of our adult selves go right back to our first experiences. How we think, act and interact is influenced by our early years, yet most people don't know the key findings from the juiciest child development studies that can give us insight into our adult selves. Weaving together cutting edge research, everyday experience and clinical examples, Dr Lucy Maddox explains how we develop from an unconscious bundle of cells floating about in the dark of the in uterine environment to to a fully grown complex adult, revealing fascinating insights about our personality, relationships and daily lives along the way.

DR LUCY MADDOX is a consultant clinical psychologist and writer. After 13 years' experience in the NHS she now works in a mix of third sector roles. She works with children, teenagers and adults in Bristol and as senior clinical advisor for the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies. Lucy has written for various publications including the Guardian, Science, Prospect and The Times, and is the author of children's book What Is Mental Health? Where Does it Come From? And Other Big Questions.

The best book I've read this year ... It's written in such a beautiful way. Her writing is so warm and vibrant and it really draws you in. She's very nuanced with this - there's no blame or judgement here. It's information about how our early life experience can shape us but also the limitations of that and how other factors are at play as well. It's absolutely fascinating, I can't put it down and I recommend that you all read it as well - Book Shambles podcast A very useful addition to the plethora of books written about psychological development . . . highly accessible - Times Literary Supplement Excellent. It covered a lot of very important and fascinating information but in a warm and relaxed style for easy reading. I am confident that it would extremely valuable for psychology students with an interest in progressing to clinical practice with children and adolescents Blueprint marshals evidence from an enormous range of studies in an engaging and accessible way. Anyone interested in how our childhood shapes us will find this a fascinating and enjoyable read Blueprint is an accessible science book that introduces the reader to the many reasons we end up as we do. These reasons are varied and complex and Lucy Maddox guides the reader through these diverse topics with great clarity. Her style of introducing us to the people that know most about these areas, through to what this might mean for us all in our everyday lives and relationships is excellent ... It is a book that guides both university students and the public through the complexities of who we are and what we become