The story behind the Hand To Heart Project

I envisage that the Hand to Heart Project and The Growing Mind Series of online courses will contribute to more insightful and positive parenting practices, that ensure our children and teenagers are raised to feel safe, connected, loved and worthwhile.

I am fortunate to have trained, and worked, during one of the most exciting eras of research, since psychology was established as a science in the 1800’s.  

In the years I have been practising, scientific evidence has led to profound changes to the way we understand children and teenager’s growth and development. We now know so much more about the experiences, and influences,  that shape the growing brain, and its capacity for healthy relationships.

At the same time, it is clear that we now live in a world where we are oversaturated with information, and for parents, this can be daunting, and at times, confusing.  I strongly believe that, as parents, we need to be guided by the latest neuroscience to support our children’s development, at any age; and most importantly, our relationships with them. 

I hope that the Hand to Heart Project and The Growing Mind Series of online courses will provide a deeper understanding of the scientific underpinnings of children and teenager’s physical, psychological and emotional development.

A Clinical Psychologist, Paediatric Neuropsychologist, Wife and Mother

I’m Megan Fowler, a Clinical Psychologist (MA Hons, PGDipClinPsych) who has 25 years’ experience in working with children, adolescents, young adults and their parents. 

I am registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board, holding both the Clinical, and Neuropsychology, scopes of practice. I am a full member of the New Zealand Psychological Society, (NZPsS), and am a member of the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI), the International Neuropsychological Society (INS), and the American Psychological Society (APA).

As a specialist child and adolescent psychologist, I work with a wide range of emotional, behavioural and developmental difficulties. I am also a specialist paediatric neuropsychologist with expertise in working with clients who have acquired brain injuries, neurological or neurodevelopmental disorders, or cognitive and learning difficulties.

I have worked in my private practice since 2005 and also have experience working in the public sector in the areas of child and adolescent mental health, maternal mental health, health and disability, and in community based rehabilitation services.

I am also married, and the mother of two adult sons. Becoming a parent has been the greatest joy, and biggest challenge, of my life. I believe that becoming a mother has had a profound influence on my role as a child psychologist, and ignited my passion to understand the multitude of influences, on children’s neurodevelopment, and wellbeing.

I am a proud Kiwi, and in my spare time, I enjoy photography, travelling, and hiking in different parts of New Zealand, and overseas.

““Why can’t parents see their children’s pain? I’ve had to ask myself the same thing. It’s because we haven’t seen our own.”

- Gabor Mate