Talks on children's mental health and conscious parenting

Since 2015 I have worked on teenagers’ mental health and talked about it in public. Not as a doctor or a psychologist, but as a father of four, one of whom struggles with mental health problems. On the Expert Commission for Mental Health Protection at the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights this is called an “expert by experience”: I know the support system from the side of a parent who is going through it.

The whole story, from the “Porcelanowe Aniołki” blog to the UNICEF and Children’s Rights Ombudsman team, is on the page about my social activities.

What I talk about

• teenage depression and why it has to be talked about instead of being swept under the carpet,
• how to talk about suicide,
• what child and adolescent psychiatry in Poland looks like to a parent who knows many hospitals and centres,
• conscious parenting and fatherhood when one of the children is in crisis,
• a child’s mental health as a taboo at the parent’s workplace.

I write more about the last one in the post on mental health issues as a workplace taboo.

Where and in what form

Conferences and debates

I was a panellist in the debate on child psychiatry at the Economic Forum in Karpacz and the debate at Campus Polska Przyszłości, and I moderated the debate on child and youth mental health at the Mazovia Development Forum. At the debate of the Dajemy Dzieciom Siłę Foundation on how to help a child in a mental health crisis, I spoke from a father’s perspective. I also spoke at a patients’ congress at the invitation of the Office of the Patient Ombudsman, and from the balcony of the Polish parliament when a bill on access to psychological help for under-18s reached the Sejm.

Television and radio

I have appeared on TVN, Polsat and TVP1 as a commentator, and on Polsat I also had an on-call slot answering phone calls from parents. In March 2026 I talked about how to talk about suicide on the TVP programme “Hala odlotów”. I have talked about teenagers’ mental health and parenting several times on Polish Radio Three and Radio RDC.

Film and book

I act in the full-length film “Nic nie czuję” about the relationship between a parent and a child in a mental health crisis; it was broadcast on TVP1 and is available on TVP VOD, and its patron is the Unaweza Foundation. I consulted on Katarzyna Bonda’s novel “W głąb”, and as part of its launch we talked in a joint live stream about supporting young people in crisis and their families.

TEDx “Depression is the kidnapper of our children”

This 2019 talk was my first breakthrough and drew a strong response. On the TEDx Talks channel it has over 128,000 views; it was translated into English and featured among ten health talks on the TED channel. Watch it on YouTube.

A talk at your company

What can a company do when an employee’s child is in a mental health crisis? First, stop pretending it is a purely private matter, because children’s mental health problems are still a taboo at work. I can come to your company and tell employees who are parents what a child’s crisis looks like from the inside and why it is worth talking about. A conversation like that shows people that the subject has a place in your company.

How to invite me

Tell me what the event is, who will be listening and how much time I have. My bio and photos for event materials are in the press pack.