Why Grandmothers Matter

Naomi Stadlen works as an existential psychotherapist in private practice, specialising in seeing mothers and parent-couples. She teaches and supervises at the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling. She runs Mothers Talking, a weekly discussion group on Zoom. Naomi is married to Anthony Stadlen. They have three children and three grandchildren. In her spare time, Naomi enjoys Wu-style Tai Chi, quick crosswords, Jewish studies, and classical music. Further details on www.naomistadlen.com

Preface: Grandmothers’ voices



1 The grandmother hypothesis



2 ‘Mum, we’ve got something to tell you'



3 ‘One thing we can give as grandmothers is praise’



4 ‘They grow up quickly’



5 ‘But [my grandson]’s always busy with his friends or computer’



6 ‘As a grandmother, there are two of you’



7 The couple relationship



8 ‘She [grandmother] remembered talking to her grandmother’



9 A generation of grandmothers



Conclusion: Invisible threads