Summer Short Series: Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit
From Appearance Matters: The Podcast! by The Centre for Appearance Research
August 28, 2025 · 16 min
About this episode
This episode features Dr Maia Thornton discussing the Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit and introduces new podcast hosts Dr Kat Schneider and Dr Ella Guest.
Welcome to our 2025 Summer Short Series! We're back with bitesize episodes showcasing recent work from our team at the Centre for Appearance Research! In this episode, we are joined by Dr Maia Thornton, Senior Research Fellow at CAR, who tells us about her recent paper entitled: The Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit: development of an ACT-based intervention to improve the well-being of parents and caregivers of children with appearance-affecting conditions and injuries. Maia discusses a support intervention for parents of children with visible differences, which she developed during her PhD. In this episode, we also introduce two new podcast hosts. Dr Kat Schneider and Dr Ella Guest are both Senior Research Fellows at CAR who will be joining the podcast team. Read Maia's open access paper: https://academic.oup.com/jpepsy/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jpepsy/jsaf054/8205549 Find out more about the Visible Difference Support Hub https://visibledifferencesupporthub.com/ Cover image by Trevor James Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton & Ella Guest
People in this episode
Hosts: Dr Kat Schneider, Dr Ella Guest
Guest: Dr Maia Thornton
Topics covered
- parenting
- appearance
- well-being
- intervention
- support
Keywords
- parenting toolkit
- appearance affecting conditions
- well-being
- support intervention
- research
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Centre for Appearance Research
Books & works: The Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit, The Visible Difference Support Hub
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