Books by Tanith Carey

Tanith Carey is the author of 13 books, mainly specialising in psychology and parenting.

Her latest book is Feeling ‘Blah’? Why Life Feels Joyless and How to Recapture its Highs, published by Hachette.

Following its hardback launch in April 2023, where it was widely covered in outlets ranging from The Times to Reader’s Digest and Psychologies magazine, it will be published in paperback in April 2024.

Tanith’s next book, to be published in February 2024, is ‘What’s My Tween Thinking? Practical Child Psychology for Modern Parents’, with clinical psychologist Angharad Rudkin, for DK books.

This is the third in a highly successful series of books which also includes ‘What’s My Child Thinking?’ for parents of two to seven year olds, and ‘What’s My Teenager Thinking?’ for parents of 13 to 18 year olds. The new one covers the intervening years from 8 to 12.

These books are now in more than 35 foreign editions, including Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Ukrainian and Chinese.

The unique and accessible guides are the first to clearly use child psychology and development to examine real-world challenging situations - looking at the thinking of BOTH parent and child in the moment to create connection. 

Tanith also holds a Certificate in Therapeutic Skills and Studies, and combines journalism and book writing with her training for a Master’s Degree in Gestalt psychotherapy at London’s Metanoia Institute.

FEELING ‘BLAH’?
WHY ANHEDONIA HAS LEFT YOU JOYLESS AND HOW TO RECAPTURE LIFE’S HIGHS

How much do you enjoy your life? Does your life feel a bit dull? A bit grey?

Have your emotions flatlined?

The time has finally come to face up to the hard truth that the modern world makes it much more difficult to enjoy life.

In this ground-breaking book, Tanith Carey joins the dots on how convenience culture, stressful lifestyles, modern diets and both female and male hormonal changes can dial down our ability to feel joy.

‘Feeling Blah?’ is also the first popular psychology book to analyse the spread of anhedonia - or feeling blah - in modern society and look at why it’s the missing word in our mental health conversation.

With the help of world-leading experts and neuroscientists, Tanith looks at research on how the brain’s dopamine reward system can get derailed in the 21st Century and offers evidence-based strategies to get it running smoothly again.

Highly readable and filled with ‘Aha’ moments, this is the book that will show you how to kickstart your feel-good chemicals and start loving life again.

Thought you knew everything about happiness? As you will learn from ‘Feeling Blah?’ the answer is : Not Yet.

As seen/heard in The Times, BBC Radio, Newsweek, Psychologies, Happiful, The Independent, the Daily Mail, RTE and more than 30 podcasts.

REVIEWS

‘Fascinating’ - Psychologies

’A brilliant read’ - Happiful

‘A really, really, really, really good book,’ Liz Jones, You magazine podcast.

WHAT'S MY TWEEN THINKING? PRACTICAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY FOR MODERN PARENTS

Has your kid entered a new phase between being a child and a teenager?

Is the start of puberty and the pull to independence bringing new challenges?

If you are the parents of an 8 to 12-year-old the answers you seek are here.

This uniquely practical, easy-to-use handbook explores the development and brain changes of the 'in between years' and gives evidence-based strategies you can use both in the moment and long term.

Taking you through 75 everyday scenarios, parenting author Tanith Carey and clinical psychologist Angharad Rudkin address every real-world concern parents of tweens face.

These range from what to do when your tween says they hate you to how to respond if they won't come off their video game, from friendship issues to school worries, puberty, body image and screen time.

Discover how to stay connected with your tween and lay the groundwork for the teen years.

'What's My Tween Thinking?' is the third in the series of these unique books, now published across the world in 35 editions.

COMING

February 15, 2024

What's My Teenager Thinking?
Practical child psychology for modern parents

As the teenage brain rewires, hormones surge, and independence beckons - a perfect storm for family conflict emerges. Parenting just got tougher. But help is at hand.

This uniquely practical parenting book for raising teenagers in today's world explores the science at work during this period of development, translates teenage behaviour, and shows you how you can best respond as a parent - in the moment and in the long term.

Taking over 100 everyday scenarios, the book tackles real-world situations head-on - from what to do when your teenager slams their bedroom door in your face to how to handle worries about online safety, peer group pressure, school work and sex.

Discover how to create a supportive environment and communicate with confidence - to help your teenager manage whatever life brings.

REVIEWS

Tanith Carey’s insights make facing these difficult times with teens less stressful. Having a defiant teenager is more or less inevitable, (but this book shows) you have more control over the conflicts than you think.

- Andy Earle,
Talking To Teens podcast, talkingtoteens.com

I love this new guide. It's full of teen psychology and sound guidance and deals with every possible scenario of teen issues you can think of. Super helpful - and perfect to dip in and out of. If you want to communicate well with your teen and support them as best you can then this is the book for you.

- Becky Goddard-Hill,
Author of Be Happy, Be You A Teenage Guide

What’s My Child Thinking?
Practical Child Psychology for Modern Parents

Find out what your child really means when he or she says "Look what I've done!", "But, I'm not tired", or "You're embarrassing me" - and discover what's going on when they can't express themselves at all. Taking more than 100 everyday situations, the book leads you through scenarios step-by-step, explaining not only your child's behaviour and the psychology behind it but also your own feelings as a parent. It then gives instant recommendations for what you could say and do to best resolve the situation.

Covering all your child's developmental milestones from ages 2 to 7 years, What's My Child Thinking? covers important issues - such as temper tantrums, sibling rivalry, and peer pressure. What's more, there is a bank of practical "survival guides" for critical times, such as travelling in the car and going online safely.

Rooted in evidence-based clinical psychology and championing positive parenting, What's My Child Thinking? will help you tune into your child's innermost thoughts and be the parent you want to be.

Reviews

“A lifeline for many parents with it’s easy-to-follow practical advice giving an insight into the child’s view of the world... but this book is not just for parents but everyone who works with children, including nursery professionals.”

- Parenta Magazine

“I absolutely love this book. It is so well set out and so insightful I think it is going to be a real help to parents. Understanding what is behind a child's thinking will relieve everybody's frustration and make for a much happier home. Fantastic.”

- Becky Goddard-Hill,
Co-Author of Create Your Own Happy and Be Happy, Be You, The Teenage Guide

“A really practical manual for parents. Very well organised and clear to follow - this book will help parents and any adult working with children to reflect on what the behaviour means and how to appropriately address it. I would recommend this to anyone with young children.”

- Chris Calland,
Body Image and behaviour consultant, notjustbehaviour.co.uk

The Friendship Maze:
How to Help Your Child Navigate Their Way to Positive and Happier Friendships

Friendship battles among children have existed since the words ‘you can’t play with us’ were first uttered in the playground. But the worry is that today it seems there is no minimum age limit to being hurtful to others. Unkind or exclusive behaviour appears to be starting sooner than ever – even in nursery school – and continues throughout the school system. As a result, friendship issues top the list of parents’ concerns, and, from the other side of the school gates, they can often feel powerless.

This book will change that as parenting writer Tanith Carey analyses the increasingly complex social pressures changing the face of childhood, having drawn on extensive research on children's friendships, from toddlers to teens. She offers practical solutions for building your child’s social skills for a happier, more carefree childhood, including how to:

• Help your child deal with classroom and social media politics. - Inoculate your child against the effects of peer-group pressure, cliquiness and exclusion.

• Learn what’s really going on in your child’s social circle.

• Bully-proof your child throughout school.

• Work out when to step in and step out of your child’s conflicts.

• Help your child make friends if they are stuck on the sidelines.

The Friendship Maze is suitable for ages three to sixteen.

Reviews

“Helping our children to navigate the complexities of friendship is a challenge for us all. This book offers invaluable information and practical advice. If only it had been available when my own children were younger.”

- Julian Elliott,
Professor of Educational Psychology, Durham University

“The Friendship Maze, is refreshingly positive and practical. Tanith fearlessly tackles the minefields in children’s friendship-making, for example an over-reliance on social media, bullying, and the pressure to grow up too fast. No problem is considered too trivial to be ignored; none is seen as impossible to solve. In every section, she offers a list of specific, practical tips parents can adopt straight away. Best of all to my way of thinking, her suggestions show parents not how to step in and sort things out. Instead, she teaches parents how to empower their children to solve their own relationship problems and to find ways to weather the inevitable difficult patches as they grow up.”

- Linda Blair,
Clinical Psychologist

“This is the sort of instructional parenting skills handbook I would have KILLED for when I first became a mum. In a world of huge stress and pressure for our kids this guide to helping them better help themselves through the minefields of friendships in an era of social media is a MUST for any parent.”

- Nadia Sawalha,
TV presenter and mother-of-two

“The Friendship Maze helps parents navigate the journey of their child’s social relationships and provides invaluable insights and advice to parents. Long overdue!”

- Emma Citron,
Consultant Clinical Psychologist

GIRLS, UNINTERRUPTED:
Steps for Building Stronger Girls in a challenging world

Why are girls self-harming and suffering eating disorders in record numbers?
Why do girls feel they have to be 'Little Miss Perfects' who are never allowed to fail?

Why are girls turning against each other on social media?
What should we tell girls about how to deal with challenges of every day sexism and violent, misogynistic pornography?
How can parents, teachers and grandparents inoculate girls so they can push back against the barrage of unhealthy messages bombarding them about what it means to be female?

Tired of the same old parenting books that tip-toe vaguely around the issues instead of tackling them head-on? 

Laid out in clear simple steps, 'Girls Uninterrupted' , which was serialised in the The Times, The Mail on Sunday and The Independent, shows the practical strategies you need to create a carefree childhood for your daughters and ultimately help build them into the healthy, resilient women they deserve to be.

REVIEWS

"One of Britain's leading parenting gurus"

– The Mail On Sunday

"A brilliant new parenting book"

– The Huffington Post

"The practical strategies you need to create a carefree childhood for your daughter"

– The Little Book

TAMING THE TIGER PARENT:
How to put your child's well-being first in a competitive world

From the moment the umbilical cord is cut, today's parents feel trapped in a never-ending race to ensure their child is the brightest and the best. But while it's completely natural for schools and parents to want children to reach their potential, at what point does too much competition become damaging?

With constant testing in schools also raising the stakes, how can we tell when hot-housing children is actually doing more harm than good? 

In this ground-breaking and provocative book, award-winning journalist and parenting author Tanith Carey presents the latest research on what this contest is doing to the next generation. 

Packed with insights, experts' tips, real experiences and resources, this book is a timely guide to safeguarding your child's well-being in a competitive world - so they can grow into the happy, emotionally balanced people they really need to be.

REVIEWS

"The book is GREAT ... in a great tradition of critiques of society that also help us re-orient our parenting ... beautifully lucid and readable."

– Steve Biddulph,
Author of The Secrets of Happy Children

"Insightful and shrewd"

– Sir Anthony Seldon,
Leading Educationalist

"A highly readable, well-balanced, well-argued contribution to the rapidly-growing mountain of parenting books, with plenty of practical, achievable advice for anyone who wants to escape from the tiger race."

– Sue Palmer,
Author of Toxic Childhood

"A fantastic book which gives children back their childhood"

– Dr David Whitebread,
Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Education at Cambridge University

NEVER KISS A MAN IN A CANOE:
Word of Wisdom from the Golden Age of Agony Aunts

Having trawled the archives of magazines and newspapers, many long-forgotten, author Tanith Carey has gathered together this fascinating collection of advice from agony aunts' columns through the 'golden' years; from the end of the 19th century through to the beginning of the Swinging Sixties. 

Never Kiss a Man in a Canoe harks back to a time when agony aunts played a crucial role in educating, remonstrating and scolding the masses. From advice on the immorality of reading a crime novel or riding a bike to Sunday school, to learning about etiquette and how to make a boy into a man, this book is a slap in the face for everyone accustomed to the politically correct advice of today. It's a fascinating tribute to the manners of the past that will make you grateful times have moved on.

The book was serialised in the The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror and The Week, featured in BBC Two's QI and was named one of best humour books of the year by the Sunday Telegraph.

REVIEWS

"Hilarious"

– Daily Mirror

"Arresting"

– The Guardian

"Fascinating"

– The Sunday Times

"Good for a hoot on a girls' night out"

– The Sunday Telegraph

"Both a comic look at outdated mores from times that are happily gone by, and a reminder of how little has really changed this offers much that is still relevant to today's girl-about-town."

– The Independent on Sunday.