May 25, 2025 • 11 mins
Welcome to the Globally Thriving Families Podcast: Introductory Episode
In this introductory episode of the Globally Thriving Families Podcast, host Clare O'Byrne, a parent coach and occupational therapist, welcomes listeners and shares her extensive background in supporting children and families worldwide. Clare discusses the unique challenges of raising children internationally and addresses the overwhelming flood of parenting information available today. She explains the foundational role of occupational therapy in child development and introduces the concept of parent coaching. Clare outlines future podcast topics intended to help parents and caregivers gain insights and practical tips to support their children's development in diverse environments. Listeners are encouraged to engage with Clare for future topic suggestions and further insights.
00:00 Introduction to Globally Thriving Families Podcast
01:10 Meet Your Host: Clare O'Byrne
01:52 Navigating Parenting Information Overload
03:43 The Unique Challenges of Raising Kids Internationally
05:16 Understanding Occupational Therapy
08:00 The Role of Parent Coaching
11:13 Conclusion and Contact Information
Connect with Clare: globally.thriving@gmail.com
Website: https://www.globallythriving.com
Connect with Clare on Instagram: http://instagram.com/globally_thriving
Book a free 20 minute call with Clare: https://tidycal.com/globallythriving/20-minute-meeting
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Clare (00:06):
Are you a parent or caregiver raising your child
internationally?
Are you curious about how tonurture your child's
development?
But find all the parentinginformation out there confusing?
If so, you are in the rightplace.
Welcome to the GloballyThriving Families Podcast.
I'm your host, Clare O'Byrne, aparent coach and occupational
(00:29):
therapist with a passion forsupporting children and their
families for more than 25 years.
Whether it's understanding howto build resilience to practical
tips for language development,screen time challenges, and
staying calm amongst the chaos,Globally Thriving Families is
here to help.
Join me as we explore thetopics that give you the
(00:53):
insights and guidance you needto support your children to
thrive.
No matter where your family'sadventures take you.
Welcome.
I'm thrilled to have you here.
This is a short episode todayto introduce myself and tell you
(01:15):
a bit about how this podcast isgoing to help you and what you
can expect in future episodes.
So I'm Claire.
I am a parent coach and anoccupational therapist, and I've
created this podcast to helpyou understand some of the
valuable information thatimpacts not only your child's
development, but can actuallyinfluence your family life as a
(01:38):
whole too.
So whether you have justrelocated to a new country, or
if you've been livinginternationally for a while,
this podcast is for you.
So as you probably alreadyknow, there's a lot of
information about parenting andchild development available
these days, particularly onsocial media.
(02:00):
Some of this is really goodthought provoking information
and we can learn something fromit.
But the thing is, with all theinformation out there across all
the different platforms, thereare also a lot of contrasting
opinions and approaches, whichcan feel overwhelming at times
when you are the one trying tofigure out what's relevant to
(02:21):
you.
Especially if you're raisingkids internationally, there's a
different dynamic to it.
So some of that generalparenting advice or support
doesn't factor in those nuancesof international family life.
I also find with social mediaparticularly because it's a very
short form in terms of the timeand the space available to
(02:42):
discuss a topic or introduce atopic, it doesn't really leave
room for considering the nuancesof each situation.
And that's where comparison andpressure to do more and be more
and be better comes from.
Um, you know, we see a quick 30second video about something
and we react immediately.
You know, maybe it's guilt of,oh my God, I'm not doing that.
(03:05):
Or fear, oh, no, I, I need tostart doing this if I want my
kids to be successful.
Or maybe we feel smug, andhappy with ourselves because
it's like, oh my God, thank GodI'm doing this.
Now I know that you and I aredoing our best with the
information that we have, and soin this podcast, I want to help
you understand just some of thefundamental topics in child
(03:28):
development to be able todiscuss things in a
non-judgmental way.
And give you some ideas toimplement at home.
And maybe it's just some thingsto reflect on to see what fits
for your family and yourpersonal situation.
Now, if you are livinginternationally or just
considering it even.
We know that that's a uniqueexperience.
(03:51):
There's so much that theexperience of living
internationally gives anindividual and a family.
You know, in terms of ourchildren's development and the
way we parent this is massivelyinfluenced by the environment
that we're in, the culture thatwe come from, and also the
people that we are surroundedby.
And these factors really shapeour experiences and our approach
(04:15):
to raising a child, which Iwant to explore more in future
episodes.
So a bit about me.
I'm married with two children.
I have a daughter and a son,and I've been an occupational
therapist for about 26 years.
I trained in the UK and I'vebeen really fortunate in my
career to have worked in severalcountries around the world, the
(04:38):
UK and Ireland, Canada andKuwait.
My family and I have beenliving in the Middle East for
almost 10 years now.
So firstly, we moved to Kuwaitfrom Canada.
And now more recently we're inAbu Dhabi in the UAE.
It's been such a privilege tohave worked with both adults and
(05:00):
children in a variety ofsettings such as hospitals and
clinics and schools, and inclients homes, and it's really
been a rich learning experiencefor me working in all these
different countries over theyears with families.
Now if you are not familiarwith occupational therapy, which
let's face, it could be many ofyou, I want to give you a sense
(05:23):
of what OT is, and just tounderstand a little bit the lens
through which I'm talkingabout, child development and
parenting.
It's not always a wellunderstood profession, but it
can have such a significantimpact on people's lives.
So I want to be able to sharethat with you a little bit.
So basically occupationaltherapy is all about helping
(05:44):
people to do the things thatthey need to do or they want to
do in their daily life.
We work with all ages from zeroto a hundred and beyond.
Now, thinking about it in thecontext of children.
OTs support children to carryout whatever functional
activities they need to do intheir everyday life.
(06:05):
So that's playing, eating,getting dressed, brushing their
teeth, socializing with friends,completing their schoolwork,
participating in a hobby, doingsport, basically anything that's
part of their daily routine.
Now, if there's somethinggetting in the way of what they
need to do or they want to do,then an OT can support them.
(06:26):
So there could be all sorts ofreasons why they might be having
difficulty.
Maybe it's an illness or aninjury, a developmental delay, a
mental health condition, orneurodivergence, all sorts of
reasons.
so when an OT assesses a child,they're getting really curious
and being detectives about allaspects of that child's life,
(06:48):
their environment, theirroutines, as well as their
personal skills and abilities.
So we would be interested inmotor skills and thinking skills
and visual perceptual skills.
In sensory processing andsocial emotional skills.
But like I said, we get curiousabout the whole child's world,
so we take a holistic approachin that.
(07:10):
We also look at theirenvironment and how that impacts
their daily life.
Sometimes we help to change anactivity in the way that it's
done to make it easier for achild, or we might provide some
equipment to help them completea task more efficiently.
Sometimes we recommend changingsomething in the environment,
(07:30):
or even just changing theexpectations of the people
around the child.
Sometimes we're working onbuilding and improving specific
skills for them to complete anactivity, and to do that we use
a variety of activities that areenjoyable and meaningful for
the child.
So there's lots of differentparts to the role, which makes
(07:51):
it a really dynamic professionand at the heart of it is really
that commitment to helpsomebody thrive in their daily
life.
And this is a good segue intoparent coaching.
So coaching is a component ofoccupational therapy as it is
with other health professionstoo.
And in pediatric ot, workingwith families to help them
(08:13):
understand how they can supporttheir child and support
themselves as a family member.
Is a really valuable part ofthe role too.
One of the things I came torealize as a therapist over the
last few years particularly, isthat it's not just what we do
with a child that is important.
So when a therapist or anotherprofessional sees a child in,
(08:35):
say, a clinic setting or theschool setting, perhaps they
might see them once or twice aweek for maybe an hour.
But after that session, thenthey go home to their family or
they go back to school.
And life just carries on.
The piece that sometimes ismissing to this is the support
for the parent to maybe betterunderstand what their child's
(08:59):
needs are or even feelcomfortable in their ability to
support their child.
So helping parents andcaregivers, and even educators
to be aware and to understandperhaps why a child behaves a
certain way or how to just graspa child's needs and abilities
is really important.
I've delivered parent workshopsin schools, and one thing that.
(09:23):
Has struck me was that wheneverI did a session, many parents
afterwards would just tell meoh, I didn't know that before.
I didn't realize that this wasimportant, et cetera, et cetera,
and I realized that.
You don't need to have adiagnosis to benefit from
understanding more aboutwellbeing, about child
development or brain science.
(09:44):
This is actually informationthat benefits the whole
community, which is anotherreason why I really want to
share these insights with you.
I shifted my focus to parentcoaching because I saw how
powerful it is when parents feeltruly seen and supported and
confident in their role,especially when raising children
(10:08):
in the context of internationallife I that most lasting
changes happen when caregivershave the tools and the insight
and the space to reflect andgrow.
Navigating those everydaychallenges as well as the added
layers of raising a familyabroad and getting used to
(10:31):
different systems and differentexpectations, and building a
remote family even.
These are all ups and downs to,to that dynamic, and so I'm
really looking forward totalking about that more in this
podcast too.
My two kids are aged 11 and 13at the moment, so I am most
(10:51):
definitely also on a learningjourney with that, and I'm
trying to navigate just likeyou, how to help them thrive.
I am not a perfect parent, as aperfect parent.
It doesn't actually exist, butI do know that I'm doing what I
can.
I'm learning every day withthem, and they're my teachers
basically in this journey.
(11:12):
So I really hope you'll join meeach week.
I would love to hear also yoursuggestions about future topics.
If this resonates with you, andyou can email me at
globally.thriving@gmail.com, oryou can find me on Instagram at
globally_thriving and pleasemessage me.
(11:33):
I would love to hear from you.
Okay, so thank you so much forlistening, and I'll see you next
time.
Are you a parent or caregiver raising your child
internationally?
Are you curious about how tonurture your child's
development?
But find all the parentinginformation out there confusing?
If so, you are in the rightplace.
Welcome to the GloballyThriving Families Podcast.
I'm your host, Clare O'Byrne, aparent coach and occupational
(00:29):
therapist with a passion forsupporting children and their
families for more than 25 years.
Whether it's understanding howto build resilience to practical
tips for language development,screen time challenges, and
staying calm amongst the chaos,Globally Thriving Families is
here to help.
Join me as we explore thetopics that give you the
(00:53):
insights and guidance you needto support your children to
thrive.
No matter where your family'sadventures take you.
Welcome.
I'm thrilled to have you here.
This is a short episode todayto introduce myself and tell you
(01:15):
a bit about how this podcast isgoing to help you and what you
can expect in future episodes.
So I'm Claire.
I am a parent coach and anoccupational therapist, and I've
created this podcast to helpyou understand some of the
valuable information thatimpacts not only your child's
development, but can actuallyinfluence your family life as a
(01:38):
whole too.
So whether you have justrelocated to a new country, or
if you've been livinginternationally for a while,
this podcast is for you.
So as you probably alreadyknow, there's a lot of
information about parenting andchild development available
these days, particularly onsocial media.
(02:00):
Some of this is really goodthought provoking information
and we can learn something fromit.
But the thing is, with all theinformation out there across all
the different platforms, thereare also a lot of contrasting
opinions and approaches, whichcan feel overwhelming at times
when you are the one trying tofigure out what's relevant to
(02:21):
you.
Especially if you're raisingkids internationally, there's a
different dynamic to it.
So some of that generalparenting advice or support
doesn't factor in those nuancesof international family life.
I also find with social mediaparticularly because it's a very
short form in terms of the timeand the space available to
(02:42):
discuss a topic or introduce atopic, it doesn't really leave
room for considering the nuancesof each situation.
And that's where comparison andpressure to do more and be more
and be better comes from.
Um, you know, we see a quick 30second video about something
and we react immediately.
You know, maybe it's guilt of,oh my God, I'm not doing that.
(03:05):
Or fear, oh, no, I, I need tostart doing this if I want my
kids to be successful.
Or maybe we feel smug, andhappy with ourselves because
it's like, oh my God, thank GodI'm doing this.
Now I know that you and I aredoing our best with the
information that we have, and soin this podcast, I want to help
you understand just some of thefundamental topics in child
(03:28):
development to be able todiscuss things in a
non-judgmental way.
And give you some ideas toimplement at home.
And maybe it's just some thingsto reflect on to see what fits
for your family and yourpersonal situation.
Now, if you are livinginternationally or just
considering it even.
We know that that's a uniqueexperience.
(03:51):
There's so much that theexperience of living
internationally gives anindividual and a family.
You know, in terms of ourchildren's development and the
way we parent this is massivelyinfluenced by the environment
that we're in, the culture thatwe come from, and also the
people that we are surroundedby.
And these factors really shapeour experiences and our approach
(04:15):
to raising a child, which Iwant to explore more in future
episodes.
So a bit about me.
I'm married with two children.
I have a daughter and a son,and I've been an occupational
therapist for about 26 years.
I trained in the UK and I'vebeen really fortunate in my
career to have worked in severalcountries around the world, the
(04:38):
UK and Ireland, Canada andKuwait.
My family and I have beenliving in the Middle East for
almost 10 years now.
So firstly, we moved to Kuwaitfrom Canada.
And now more recently we're inAbu Dhabi in the UAE.
It's been such a privilege tohave worked with both adults and
(05:00):
children in a variety ofsettings such as hospitals and
clinics and schools, and inclients homes, and it's really
been a rich learning experiencefor me working in all these
different countries over theyears with families.
Now if you are not familiarwith occupational therapy, which
let's face, it could be many ofyou, I want to give you a sense
(05:23):
of what OT is, and just tounderstand a little bit the lens
through which I'm talkingabout, child development and
parenting.
It's not always a wellunderstood profession, but it
can have such a significantimpact on people's lives.
So I want to be able to sharethat with you a little bit.
So basically occupationaltherapy is all about helping
(05:44):
people to do the things thatthey need to do or they want to
do in their daily life.
We work with all ages from zeroto a hundred and beyond.
Now, thinking about it in thecontext of children.
OTs support children to carryout whatever functional
activities they need to do intheir everyday life.
(06:05):
So that's playing, eating,getting dressed, brushing their
teeth, socializing with friends,completing their schoolwork,
participating in a hobby, doingsport, basically anything that's
part of their daily routine.
Now, if there's somethinggetting in the way of what they
need to do or they want to do,then an OT can support them.
(06:26):
So there could be all sorts ofreasons why they might be having
difficulty.
Maybe it's an illness or aninjury, a developmental delay, a
mental health condition, orneurodivergence, all sorts of
reasons.
so when an OT assesses a child,they're getting really curious
and being detectives about allaspects of that child's life,
(06:48):
their environment, theirroutines, as well as their
personal skills and abilities.
So we would be interested inmotor skills and thinking skills
and visual perceptual skills.
In sensory processing andsocial emotional skills.
But like I said, we get curiousabout the whole child's world,
so we take a holistic approachin that.
(07:10):
We also look at theirenvironment and how that impacts
their daily life.
Sometimes we help to change anactivity in the way that it's
done to make it easier for achild, or we might provide some
equipment to help them completea task more efficiently.
Sometimes we recommend changingsomething in the environment,
(07:30):
or even just changing theexpectations of the people
around the child.
Sometimes we're working onbuilding and improving specific
skills for them to complete anactivity, and to do that we use
a variety of activities that areenjoyable and meaningful for
the child.
So there's lots of differentparts to the role, which makes
(07:51):
it a really dynamic professionand at the heart of it is really
that commitment to helpsomebody thrive in their daily
life.
And this is a good segue intoparent coaching.
So coaching is a component ofoccupational therapy as it is
with other health professionstoo.
And in pediatric ot, workingwith families to help them
(08:13):
understand how they can supporttheir child and support
themselves as a family member.
Is a really valuable part ofthe role too.
One of the things I came torealize as a therapist over the
last few years particularly, isthat it's not just what we do
with a child that is important.
So when a therapist or anotherprofessional sees a child in,
(08:35):
say, a clinic setting or theschool setting, perhaps they
might see them once or twice aweek for maybe an hour.
But after that session, thenthey go home to their family or
they go back to school.
And life just carries on.
The piece that sometimes ismissing to this is the support
for the parent to maybe betterunderstand what their child's
(08:59):
needs are or even feelcomfortable in their ability to
support their child.
So helping parents andcaregivers, and even educators
to be aware and to understandperhaps why a child behaves a
certain way or how to just graspa child's needs and abilities
is really important.
I've delivered parent workshopsin schools, and one thing that.
(09:23):
Has struck me was that wheneverI did a session, many parents
afterwards would just tell meoh, I didn't know that before.
I didn't realize that this wasimportant, et cetera, et cetera,
and I realized that.
You don't need to have adiagnosis to benefit from
understanding more aboutwellbeing, about child
development or brain science.
(09:44):
This is actually informationthat benefits the whole
community, which is anotherreason why I really want to
share these insights with you.
I shifted my focus to parentcoaching because I saw how
powerful it is when parents feeltruly seen and supported and
confident in their role,especially when raising children
(10:08):
in the context of internationallife I that most lasting
changes happen when caregivershave the tools and the insight
and the space to reflect andgrow.
Navigating those everydaychallenges as well as the added
layers of raising a familyabroad and getting used to
(10:31):
different systems and differentexpectations, and building a
remote family even.
These are all ups and downs to,to that dynamic, and so I'm
really looking forward totalking about that more in this
podcast too.
My two kids are aged 11 and 13at the moment, so I am most
(10:51):
definitely also on a learningjourney with that, and I'm
trying to navigate just likeyou, how to help them thrive.
I am not a perfect parent, as aperfect parent.
It doesn't actually exist, butI do know that I'm doing what I
can.
I'm learning every day withthem, and they're my teachers
basically in this journey.
(11:12):
So I really hope you'll join meeach week.
I would love to hear also yoursuggestions about future topics.
If this resonates with you, andyou can email me at
globally.thriving@gmail.com, oryou can find me on Instagram at
globally_thriving and pleasemessage me.
(11:33):
I would love to hear from you.
Okay, so thank you so much forlistening, and I'll see you next
time.
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