Dr. Swanson's passion is to help children and their families to achieve their full potential for happy, fulfilling and successful lives, despite any genetic, neurological, mental, or environmental obstacles that life may have put in the way.

Most of the families that Dr. Swanson sees are struggling to overcome the effects of one or more disorders such as

	Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
	Specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyspraxia,
	Asperger's Syndrome or Autism,
	Tourette's Syndrome,
	Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and
	Depression.

Others are tearing their hair out over their child's disruptive or antisocial behaviour. Many are also struggling with life events such as bereavement, divorce, abuse, or simply very difficult social circumstances.

Rarely are there any magic wands for these kinds of problems. Even so, Dr. Swanson firmly believes that families can find ways to make life easier, more fun and, even, more successful for everyone. His goal is to assist as many families to find such solutions as he can. As a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, author, public speaker, and father of a teenage son with Asperger's, Tourette's, and ADHD, he is well qualified to do so.

On this web site you will find a range of resources for both parents and professionals. The site is constantly being updated and improved, so if you cannot find what you want, please go to our contact page and let us know how we can improve it. Alternatively, if you have a question, please just ask!  Also, do subscribe to the free newsletter so that you can receive articles and other tips on all aspects of bringing up successful children.

Biographical Summary

As both a professional who has worked in both North America and Britain, and as a parent of a teenage son with Asperger's and Tourette's syndromes, who is currently at a special residential school, Dr. Swanson is uniquely qualified to help parents whose children are struggling with special needs of one sort or another. Having experienced the frustrations of raising such a child, and of battling with the education system to provide him with the support that he needs, Dr. Swanson has made it his mission to help other families who also want to do the very best that they can for their children.

Dr. Swanson recognises not only that there are no magic wands, but that there are very real limitations on what the state-provided institutions (health, education, and social services) can provide. Even so, he strongly believes that there is much that motivated, caring parents can do, especially if they are willing to band together to help each other.   Dr. Swanson's goal is to provide parents with the tools and material they need in order to make the task as easy as possible.

Background and Training

Dr. Swanson graduated in medicine from Southampton University in 1982. After his pre-registration year as a House Officer in medicine and surgery he then went straight into his psychiatric training at the Middlesex and University College Hospitals in London.

In 1987, having become a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Dr. Swanson went with VSO to Belize, Central America, as the country's only psychiatrist. Working with very limited resources, Dr. Swanson and his team of locally trained nurses and attendants provided a mental health service across the country. As part of this, he reviewed and updated the treatments of many patients who had not seen a psychiatrist for ten years. During these two years, Dr. Swanson also initiated a complete training programme for mental health nurses.

From there, in 1989, Dr. Swanson moved to Canada. After completing further training to qualify him as a specialist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry he then settled in Prince Edward Island where, again, he was in charge of the paediatric mental health service. During this time Dr. Swanson was involved in various public education programmes and ministry of health strategic planning processes. During this time he also developed considerable expertise in the newly recognised Attention Deficit Disorders (now called ADHD) and, with his wife Karen, facilitated the founding of the local ADHD parents support group which is still running to this day.

During the years 1992 to 1997, Dr. Swanson traveled frequently to West Africa as part of the leadership team of GAP International, a Canadian Christian charity concerned with international development. During these visits Dr. Swanson provided leadership training workshops, seminars, and consultation to a number of indigenous organisations in Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon. This experience in service development has been invaluable in his work to develop services back in Britain.

In 1997 Dr. Swanson and his family returned to the UK to take up a post as consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in a community child and family therapy service in Fareham, Hampshire. Here he works with both individual families as well as schools and community groups.

As well as publishing his highly acclaimed book, The GOOD CHILD Guide, Dr. Swanson has written a regular column for Primary Times, a half-termly paper distributed through schools to almost a million families.

More recently Dr. Swanson has been developing his internet web-sites so as to make his skills available to a far wider range of people.

Dr. Swanson is an accomplished speaker and frequently presents talks, seminars and workshops for both professionals and parents. With his lively, entertaining and highly informative style Dr. Swanson's talks are never boring!

Apart from his professional roles, Dr. Swanson's other interests include sailing, skiing, white-water kayaking and painting. He lives in Fareham, England, with his wife, two children, and their dog Bobbie.