Book
Impossible Parenting: Creating a New Culture of Mental Health for Parents (Dundurn Press)
Summary
“A roadmap for parents who want to feel less pressure and more joy during the intense early years of childrearing.
Why is it that research suggests people who don”t have kids are happier than people who do? Olivia Scobie provides practical solutions for parents who find themselves pushing beyond their capacity to meet impossible standards, and challenges parents to shift their thinking from child centred to family centred.
By naming today”s unrealistic parenting expectations as impossible from the get-go, Impossible Parenting creates the space to acknowledge harmful expectations for new parents and begins a conversation that focuses on healing and doing the best one can with the resources available.”
Reviews
“Validates how difficult parenting is … a really helpful book.” – CBC
“A MUST read for all new parents. parenting is hard – this book helps put things into perspective, and makes it a bit easier to manage.” – Amazon Review
“Buy this book along with any other “parenting” book!
I dont have a mood disorder but this book saved my sanity as a parent… understanding how parenting has been constructed to a level no one can meet and seeing how that wrecks havoc on us was eye opening and life changing! Wish i had found this book with baby one… but happy to have it help me get real with baby two!” – Amazon Review
“Absolute must-read for parents of kids under 5. An honest look at how the way we parent today is destroying us.” – Good Reads Review
“As a birth and postpartum support professional, this is one of the best books I’ve read that focused on PMADs (perinatal mood and anxiety disorders) as well as the high stress culture of parenting in the US. If you are expecting, have an infant or toddler, or work with expecting and new parents, I strongly recommend this book!” – Good Reads Reviews
Chapter Contributions
Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative (Ed.), You Are Not Alone: An Anthology of Perinatal Mental Health Stories from Conception to Postpartum, Wintertickle Press, Toronto Canada
Academic Journals
Canadian Social Work, Vol 19, 2017
“Postpartum Depression and Intensive Mothering: How Western Cultural Expectations Shape Maternal Mental Health in New Parents”
Journal Contributor
Incarcerated Mothers: Oppression and Resistance (Demeter Press 2013)
“It Was Easier To Say I Didn’t Have Kids”
Chapter Contributor (with Amber Gaszo)