‘All at Sea: There’s a New Baby in the Family’ is the perfect picture book for young children who may be anxious waiting for a their brother or sister to arrive.

Gerry, who is a working child psychotherapist, also pioneered the development of the Lighthouse model, which draws on mentalization-based therapy.

The therapy emphasises being able to understand others’ mental states, and in particular, parents learning to understand their children’s mental states.

Gerry said, “Working with infants, children and families in Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust for over 28 years now, I have long been aware how complicated it can be to introduce a new baby to an older sibling, and as a father myself I appreciate how difficult it is for us as parents to get it right for our children.

“My clinical work is precisely about helping parents understand their infants and children; to ‘see’ their children clearly  and in fact I wrote this story to try and help my three year old son with his nightmares after his new baby brother came into our home.”

“I am delighted that 20 years later it has finally been published!”

“My hope is that it will help parents talk to their toddlers and young children about their dreams, nightmares, wishes and feelings and in particular, their complex emotional reactions to the arrival of a new baby, and enable parents to acknowledge the whole range of feelings their children have, including happiness and sadness, joy and despair, love and hatred.”

“I look forward to seeing how the parents and children who use our service respond to the book and, as always, I will learn from their feedback!”