Steve is a medical doctor; he specialises in mental health and the functioning of the human mind and has dedicated his working life to help people get the best out of themselves and to be in a good place. His current and past experiences include: Clinical Director of Mental Health Services within the NHS at a district hospital, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and Undergraduate Dean at Sheffield Medical School. He has spent 20 years as an examination panel member at the Royal College of Psychiatry and has been an expert advisor to World Anti-Doping Agency. After a very strange 18 months in the pandemic world, children may start experiencing new emotions or seeing their emotions play out differently. It might help to tell him how much he is loved and that whatever he feels or however he acts you still love him and are still right behind him. This in itself can help some children to settle. An adult explanation of the chimp model is given in Peters’ previous book The Chimp Paradox. The Chimp model is expressed as the human (frontal lobe, a.k.a blue brain) and the chimp (limbic system, a.k.a red brain). My Hidden Chimp goes into less depth but explains how a chimp has a very small blue blue brain so it mainly decides things with its red brain, hence calling it your chimp. The human (blue brain, “You”) is the you that you really want to be.

She used to start worrying mid week about her upcoming gymnastic session on a Saturday morning and she would start sweating and get worked up at the thought of her being left there for two hours. If your default mood is down, you can choose to change it to up. Smiling shifts your mood, making not only you but other people feel good, leading to better relationships. Peters isn’t asking you to be a Pollyanna, you don’t have to fake it. Become more positive by thinking about things that have made you laugh or that you’re looking forward to. Habit 2: Saying sorry I have a nine-year-old boy who has been the subject of bully at school from two or three of his classmates - it’s been going on since September.The first section of the book gives a brief introduction to dual process theory and the chimp model in particular. It introduces the 4 characters and their chimps and gives examples of what they’re thinking.

As I have explained in the first scenario, this is a TEMPORARY phase. I am being tongue in cheek, but do you think he will be doing this at 18? This drive is built on survival so it is not surprising that the same problem comes up time and again. I will be slightly provocative! What she is doing is very normal and biologically very sound. Her machine is making sure that she will survive.Peters is a consultant psychiatrist with some hefty credentials. He’s worked with a host of elite athletes (both Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton credit him with their Olympic success) and spent 20 years working within the NHS. He is a former maths teacher who holds a staggering number of degrees and postgraduate qualifications and has been called upon by a plethora of organisations including businesses, prisons, schools and universities to help people better understand how their minds work.