The Orchid and the Dandelion: Why Sensitive People Struggle and How All Can Thrive (ENG)

Foreword by Philippa Perry ‘Based on groundbreaking research that has the power to change the lives of countless children - and the adults who love them.’ – Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet A necessary and important book. - Philippa Perry, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read Are you a hardy and resilient dandelion, or are you a more sensitive and fragile orchid? Building on the definitions of introvert, extrovert or highly sensitive, The Orchid and the Dandelion exposes – for the first time – how a combination of environmental and genetic factors contribute to what makes us who we are. This breakthrough research explains why some people struggle where others succeed, why happiness comes so easily to some while frustrations weigh more heavily on others. In The Orchid and the Dandelion, Dr W. Thomas Boyce – one of the world’s foremost researchers in the field of pediatric health – presents findings that children have two very different responses to their environments. While some children are like dandelions and can thrive in almost any environment, there are others who, like orchids, are much more reactive and susceptible to their surroundings. Now we finally have a scientific framework to understand people and how to address their unique needs to help them find their fullest potential. This groundbreaking book draws on extensive research into genetics and the exploding field of epigenetics, examples and real stories that will re-frame how we think about orchid and dandelion children – and the adults those children have become. By understanding which of us are, genetically and environmentally speaking, the orchids of this world, Dr Boyce explains how to care for and parent our children – the true orchids. He shows how we can help them thrive by sharing insights and lessons from his thirty years of research in the field. Review This is a necessary and important book. -- Philippa Perry, GuardianGroundbreaking research that has the power to change the lives of countless children―and the adults who love them. -- Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of QuietThis is the first parenting book Ive read in a while that is based on common sense and science. It made me step back and look at each of my four children through different eyes. It is a powerful, groundbreaking read. And if you do have an orchid, it will help you parent them through even the hardest of times. -- Lorraine Candy, Sunday Times MagazineA book for parents bewildered by their impossibly spirited children, for teachers interested in understanding the range of children in their care, for psychologists wanting insights into individual differences, and for students of the human condition everywhere. . . The Orchid and the Dandelion absorbed me like a novel. -- Psychology TodayA skilled pediatrician, a gifted scientist, and a lucid writer. He has a deep understanding of the “orchid child” and its underlying biology, and he has a compelling story to tell. There is an extensive audience of parents and teachers whose lives will be touched by this book. The well-being of their children and their students will reap enormous benefits from what Tom Boyce can teach us all about the valleys and the mountaintops of child development -- Jack P. Shonkoff M.D., Director, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University; Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s HospitalIt’s a must read for all parents, teachers, and psychologists! -- John M. Gottmann, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of Raising an Emotionally Intelligent ChildA true gift to parents and teachers globally -- Elissa S. Epel, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, UCSF About the Author Tom Boyce, MD, is professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and heads the Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also co-director of the Child and Brain Development Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Dr Boyce’s research addresses the interplay among neurobiological and psychosocial factors leading to differences in childhood health and disease, leading to his book The Orchid and the Dandelion. He frequently gives talks on his groundbreaking work. He is the parent of two wonderful adult children, one orchid and one dandelion. He is also an avid sailor who likes to tie sailing knots and untie scientific ones.Philippa Perry is a psychotherapist who, in an attempt to demystify psychotherapy, wrote the graphic novel, Couch Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). She has written for The Guardian, the Observer, Time Out and Healthy Living magazine and has a regular column in Psychologies magazine. She lives in London and Sussex with her husband, the artist Grayson Perry and enjoys gardening, cooking, parties, walking, tweeting (@philippa_perry) and watching telly.

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