Kate Silverton
Most people carry the weight of their personal lives into the working day, and many carry real adversity that standard wellbeing programmes never reach. The science of how the brain shapes behaviour, in children and in adults, is the most practical lens organisations have for this. It supports working parents and helps employees rebuild after difficulty rather than mask it.
Kate Silverton helps organisations talk about mental health and resilience with clinical grounding and lived experience, a qualified child therapist and former BBC news presenter who also hosts senior corporate events.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Kate Silverton
- A recognisable broadcaster who can hold a room of senior leaders and chair an executive panel or Q&A without losing the thread, which is why McLaren, KPMG, Transport for London, NatWest, Lloyds, and American Express have booked her for conferences and ceremonies.
- A qualified child therapist trained through Place2Be, with a BSc in Psychology from Durham and clinical practice, which makes her credible on emotional regulation and family wellbeing in a way few broadcasters are.
- Author of two Sunday Times bestsellers on child development, including an instant number one, which gives her a defined public thesis on how the developing brain shapes behaviour.
- Lived experience of recovery from complex childhood trauma, which she now speaks about openly, giving a whole-workforce audience a credible and human account of rebuilding resilience after adversity.
- A working relationship with the Princess of Wales’ Shaping Us campaign and ambassador roles with Place2Be, the Anna Freud Centre, and Trauma Informed Schools UK, which sit naturally alongside corporate wellbeing and ESG commitments.
Biography highlights
- Former BBC News presenter, including BBC News at One and BBC Weekend News, and Panorama reporter from Iraq and Afghanistan.
- BSc in Psychology; qualified child therapist trained through the Place2Be charity.
- Author of two Sunday Times bestsellers, “There’s No Such Thing As ‘Naughty'”, an instant number one, and its follow-up “There’s Still No Such Thing As ‘Naughty'”.
- Conference and awards host for Transport for London, KPMG, NatWest, Lloyds, McLaren, the NHS, and American Express.
- Ambassador for Place2Be, the Anna Freud Centre, and Trauma Informed Schools UK, and a contributor to the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood supporting the Princess of Wales’ Shaping Us campaign.
- Contestant on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, Series 16, in 2018.
Biography
Most parenting advice is folklore. Silverton’s books are a deliberate counter to that, written by a journalist who went back to the science. “There’s No Such Thing As ‘Naughty'” reached number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list on release. The follow-up, “There’s Still No Such Thing As ‘Naughty'”, covered the primary years on the same evidence base and also became a Sunday Times bestseller.
The route to that work is unusual. Two decades inside the BBC, presenting BBC News at One and BBC Weekend News, and reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan for Panorama, gave her the public profile. A BSc in Psychology and a clinical retraining through the Place2Be charity gave her the substance. She qualified as a child therapist in 2023 and now combines clinical practice with writing and corporate work.
For organisations the value sits in two places. The first is hosting craft. Conferences and award ceremonies for McLaren, KPMG, Transport for London, NatWest, Lloyds, and American Express have trusted her to chair senior conversations and run executive Q&As with rigour. The second is content, where she speaks on wellbeing, working parents, and the emotional regulation that underpins leadership composure, grounded in clinical practice and published research. Her ambassador work with Place2Be, the Anna Freud Centre, and Trauma Informed Schools UK, along with the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood and the Princess of Wales’ Shaping Us campaign, keeps that content connected to current UK practice.
There is a personal thread to the work as well. Silverton has spoken publicly since 2024 about recovering from complex childhood trauma, and she draws on that recovery when she speaks to a whole workforce about resilience. The science that explains a child’s behaviour also explains how adults carry and release early adversity, which is what makes her relevant beyond a parenting audience.
Key speaking topics
- Children’s mental health and emotional development
- The science of parenting and behaviour
- Working parents and family-friendly workplaces
- Employee wellbeing and emotional regulation
- Conference hosting and panel moderation
- After-dinner speaking
Ideal for
- Heads of HR, reward, and benefits leaders shaping parental and family wellbeing programmes
- Conference and event organisers needing a senior, calm, journalistically credible host
- Internal communications and leadership-development teams running wellbeing or working-parent strands
- Award ceremony and industry-event organisers seeking a trusted on-stage presenter
Audience outcomes
- A clearer model of how brain development shapes the behaviour of children, and what that implies for parents inside the workforce
- Practical language for managers and HR leaders speaking to working parents on stress, regulation, and family pressure
- A grounded view of what employer-sponsored mental health and family support actually has to do to make a difference
- For hosted events, sharper executive Q&As, tighter panel discussions, and a credible on-stage thread between sessions