- C
- E
- K
Hi, my name is Cliff Battley, I am a Clinical Psychologist and this is my story.
It is a beautiful Queensland summer afternoon and I’m staring directly at a 12-year-old boy sitting next to his mother. They are both crying. He is shaking and stuttering; heaving out the words, “I want to die. I don’t want to be here anymore. Everyone hates me.” His mother is doing her best to be strong for her son, trying not to let him see that she is near breaking point. She looks at me with pleading eyes, begging for my help. She says she has tried everything. I do my best to calm them both.
I ask the boy some questions about his life.
“How are your school grades?”
“Not good.”
“Do you play sport?”
“No, I don’t like it.”
“What do you do for recreation?”
“Online gaming, mostly.”
“What do you do when you go out?”
“I just like hanging out in my room.”
“Do you use social media?“
“That’s mostly what I do, when I’m not gaming.”
“Do you like yourself?”
“I don’t know. Not really. I feel useless.”
I ask for some time alone with mum. I ask some questions.
“How do you and your son get along?”
“Not too well. He’s hard to read, disobedient and rude to me at times. He doesn’t do what I ask unless he is in a good mood.”
“Does he have household responsibilities?“
“He does, but getting him to do them is another story.”
“Tell me about him not liking sport.”
“He refuses to go; getting him into the car, isn’t worth the fight.”
“Does he have a part time job?”
“No, again he refuses to get one.”
“Who pays for his phone and computer?”
“I do, he needs them for school so there’s nothing I can do.”
“What is his school attendance like?”
“Mostly fine, but lately he has refused to go.”
“How do things go for you getting him to do homework?”
“Terrible, I struggle to even find out whether he has any.”
“How about bedtime, is that an easy time for you?”
“It’s also terrible. He lays in bed on his phone until all hours.”
“I’m guessing that getting him ready for school in the mornings can be tough.”
“Yes, the fights are unbearable and I have to be at work, so sometimes it’s easier to leave him alone at home for the day.”
This line of questioning is a well-worn path for me. I understand her position. She is lost, hurting, and angry.
However, today, something is different. I am doing what I love. I am about to help change a child’s life, but I’m not feeling the sense of excitement I am used to.
As I drive home to my family that evening, I take time to revisit the session. Questions race through my mind: Why was today different for me? What happened? Why didn’t I feel as excited about helping them, as I should?
I acknowledge my frustration that there are so many cases of bullying. I am hurt for these children and their parents. I am angry about how often this story walks into my office.
I know what I have to do now. I’m not going to solve this one child at a time anymore...
... this is what I am doing.
As a Clinical Psychologist I work closely with parents, children and loved ones who seek to find happiness in their relationships with each other and within themselves. I do this by teaching them how to build strong and healthy levels of self-esteem. One of the main groups of people I work with are traumatised children (and the parents of these children) who are the victims of relentless bullying. The problem is I cannot keep up with the volume of families coming to me for help.
So, I have written a book. It is an instructional guide for parents that teaches them not only what to do when their child is being bullied, but also how to raise a child so that if, and when they are bullied, they are resilient, capable, confident and ready to cope with this savage and ruthless form of peer mistreatment. In effect, I teach parents to bully proof their children.
The book I have written is almost 50,000 words in length and is comprised of 20 easy to follow chapters. In summary, the focus is on teaching parents how to raise children to see themselves as worthy, valuable and able to face life's problems. It shows parents how to teach their children to competently deal with being bullied, in a non-combative and positive fashion. Using an easy to implement home-based system, parents are given instructions on how to ensure their children develop stronger mental, emotional and behavioural well-being. Finally, the book shows parents exactly how to take control of building a loving and productive parent-child relationship. My aim is to give parents and children who experience the torment of bullying, a sense of hope, confidence, power and self-belief in knowing they have the tools, strategies and support to deal with this potentially life-threatening situation.
To date I have invested almost $60,000 and a decade of research, testing, writing and implementing the methodology I have compiled into this book. I have, as of January 2019, completed the fourth and final edit and as such, the work is now ready for delivery to an excellent layout and design team and then to a reputable printing and publishing group.
Importantly, I am sympathetic to the extremely busy, time-constrained lives of dedicated parents pressured by this fast-paced world of jobs, bills, children's events, family commitments and personal challenges. This is why I have conducted extensive research surrounding how to deliver the information in quicker, easier to digest formats. I have sourced up-to-date learning and support programs regarding audio and digital book formatting as well as filming, editing and producing a complete instructional video series, which can be viewed on all multimedia devices (including mobile phones). This means parents can save time by listening to, or watching a topic of choice whenever and wherever they may need. My goal is to publish and deliver this information by December 2019.
Once it is complete, I will circulate the program by making it available to schools, teachers and parents via the many public talks I currently deliver, free of charge to schools, libraries, sports clubs and interest groups throughout Australia. In addition, it will be publicised through online channels including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and relevant websites.
My limiting factor is funding. I do not have the remaining finance required to take this project to completion. I am dedicated to this cause, and as such have collated a list of professional pricing quotes to complete the entire project. In this way I was able to calculate the amount of $45,000 required to give this work the life it deserves; and so make it available to the families who need it most.
Should I receive the necessary funding, it will be used to complete the following tasks:
1. Book layout and design including illustration, three reviews and subsequent amendments.
2. Hard copy printing, production and publication of an initial 1000 copies.
3. Digital and technological support for the following (I'm many things, but sadly I am not an IT person):
a) Create the digital reader version.
b) Build the audio version.
c) Film and produce the video instructional series (including studio and equipment hire, editing, graphics, software and packaging for online distribution).
d) Complete the technical tasks required to load all three formats onto a portal, ready for downloading.
e) Build an online support group where parents with questions can visit to engage with myself and other group members.
To aid this process and reduce the level of finance needed, I have paid for and completed a number of educational courses on book publishing, video structuring and scripting, sound recording and studio production work. As a bonus, this has given me access to a group of reputable industry professionals who support this project and so will, for a fair price, help me bring it to life. Furthermore, with my professional history in television and radio presenting, I am confident I can personally complete both the video and audio versions to a high standard of presentation, thereby saving the considerable costs associated with hiring a voice expert (to read the audio book) and an actor (to present the material to camera).
Although I have of course heard of Go Fund Me, I had not thought to seek help this way until a group of parents, who attended one of my school talks, mentioned this avenue. I am honoured to be doing this work and humbly ask you to find reason to help me bring this dream to life.
Please find here below a small sample of feedback I have received from families who have been exposed to my program including some photographs from recent
presentations. If you would like to see more of what I do please feel free to visit my website http://cliffbattley.com.au
Thank you for your time and consideration to contribute to this worthy project.
Cliff Battley
P.S. As a special show of appreciation, the names of all people and companies, who contribute $500 or more, will have the option of being listed in the Acknowledgements section of the hard copy and digitally published books as well as the educational video series.

"I attended Cliff’s talk on bullying tonight at The Southport School. Not only was it informative, it also gave me confidence in my approach to what I am doing. He delivered it in a positive yet logical way. I loved how he also added timely humour. These types of presentations can become very heavy at times, borderline boring, but in this case I enjoyed every minute. I hope more schools jump on board and offer parents this information as we are all now experiencing such a difficult and changing landscape of parenting.
- Rebecca Hutchison
"Listened to Cliff talk yesterday at Elanora State School. He was amazing. Great speaker who has an obvious passion to help kids. I recommend listening to him speak. Without a doubt the best hour I have spent listening to anyone!!"
- Joanne Mooney
"Cliff you are a personable and humble man with great expertise. The accessible, 'real' way you presented was informative and helpful. Keep up the good work."
- Loren Nel, Year 7 Dean, Emmanuel College
"I attended a talk that Cliff presented on bullying. It was great! He was passionate about the topic, and provided common sense, honest guidance for parenting children in this challenging world."
- Courtney Alyce
"I had the pleasure of seeing Cliff present at my son's school this evening. Great content and awesome connection with the audience. I thought he was spot on with his message and all of his points. Thanks Cliff great work."
- Dane Jansen
"Cliff’s humour softened the seriousness of the topic but not the impact of his message. Thoroughly recommend this session to all parents."
- Jane Clancy
"Cliff you are a legend. If only every primary school/kid had access to you and your amazing ability to shine a light on what’s truly important..... raising our kids to know self discipline = self esteem. You have changed the way I am parenting my kids. Thank you "
- Robin Curry

It is a beautiful Queensland summer afternoon and I’m staring directly at a 12-year-old boy sitting next to his mother. They are both crying. He is shaking and stuttering; heaving out the words, “I want to die. I don’t want to be here anymore. Everyone hates me.” His mother is doing her best to be strong for her son, trying not to let him see that she is near breaking point. She looks at me with pleading eyes, begging for my help. She says she has tried everything. I do my best to calm them both.
I ask the boy some questions about his life.
“How are your school grades?”
“Not good.”
“Do you play sport?”
“No, I don’t like it.”
“What do you do for recreation?”
“Online gaming, mostly.”
“What do you do when you go out?”
“I just like hanging out in my room.”
“Do you use social media?“
“That’s mostly what I do, when I’m not gaming.”
“Do you like yourself?”
“I don’t know. Not really. I feel useless.”
I ask for some time alone with mum. I ask some questions.
“How do you and your son get along?”
“Not too well. He’s hard to read, disobedient and rude to me at times. He doesn’t do what I ask unless he is in a good mood.”
“Does he have household responsibilities?“
“He does, but getting him to do them is another story.”
“Tell me about him not liking sport.”
“He refuses to go; getting him into the car, isn’t worth the fight.”
“Does he have a part time job?”
“No, again he refuses to get one.”
“Who pays for his phone and computer?”
“I do, he needs them for school so there’s nothing I can do.”
“What is his school attendance like?”
“Mostly fine, but lately he has refused to go.”
“How do things go for you getting him to do homework?”
“Terrible, I struggle to even find out whether he has any.”
“How about bedtime, is that an easy time for you?”
“It’s also terrible. He lays in bed on his phone until all hours.”
“I’m guessing that getting him ready for school in the mornings can be tough.”
“Yes, the fights are unbearable and I have to be at work, so sometimes it’s easier to leave him alone at home for the day.”
This line of questioning is a well-worn path for me. I understand her position. She is lost, hurting, and angry.
However, today, something is different. I am doing what I love. I am about to help change a child’s life, but I’m not feeling the sense of excitement I am used to.
As I drive home to my family that evening, I take time to revisit the session. Questions race through my mind: Why was today different for me? What happened? Why didn’t I feel as excited about helping them, as I should?
I acknowledge my frustration that there are so many cases of bullying. I am hurt for these children and their parents. I am angry about how often this story walks into my office.
I know what I have to do now. I’m not going to solve this one child at a time anymore...
... this is what I am doing.
As a Clinical Psychologist I work closely with parents, children and loved ones who seek to find happiness in their relationships with each other and within themselves. I do this by teaching them how to build strong and healthy levels of self-esteem. One of the main groups of people I work with are traumatised children (and the parents of these children) who are the victims of relentless bullying. The problem is I cannot keep up with the volume of families coming to me for help.
So, I have written a book. It is an instructional guide for parents that teaches them not only what to do when their child is being bullied, but also how to raise a child so that if, and when they are bullied, they are resilient, capable, confident and ready to cope with this savage and ruthless form of peer mistreatment. In effect, I teach parents to bully proof their children.
The book I have written is almost 50,000 words in length and is comprised of 20 easy to follow chapters. In summary, the focus is on teaching parents how to raise children to see themselves as worthy, valuable and able to face life's problems. It shows parents how to teach their children to competently deal with being bullied, in a non-combative and positive fashion. Using an easy to implement home-based system, parents are given instructions on how to ensure their children develop stronger mental, emotional and behavioural well-being. Finally, the book shows parents exactly how to take control of building a loving and productive parent-child relationship. My aim is to give parents and children who experience the torment of bullying, a sense of hope, confidence, power and self-belief in knowing they have the tools, strategies and support to deal with this potentially life-threatening situation.
To date I have invested almost $60,000 and a decade of research, testing, writing and implementing the methodology I have compiled into this book. I have, as of January 2019, completed the fourth and final edit and as such, the work is now ready for delivery to an excellent layout and design team and then to a reputable printing and publishing group.
Importantly, I am sympathetic to the extremely busy, time-constrained lives of dedicated parents pressured by this fast-paced world of jobs, bills, children's events, family commitments and personal challenges. This is why I have conducted extensive research surrounding how to deliver the information in quicker, easier to digest formats. I have sourced up-to-date learning and support programs regarding audio and digital book formatting as well as filming, editing and producing a complete instructional video series, which can be viewed on all multimedia devices (including mobile phones). This means parents can save time by listening to, or watching a topic of choice whenever and wherever they may need. My goal is to publish and deliver this information by December 2019.
Once it is complete, I will circulate the program by making it available to schools, teachers and parents via the many public talks I currently deliver, free of charge to schools, libraries, sports clubs and interest groups throughout Australia. In addition, it will be publicised through online channels including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and relevant websites.
My limiting factor is funding. I do not have the remaining finance required to take this project to completion. I am dedicated to this cause, and as such have collated a list of professional pricing quotes to complete the entire project. In this way I was able to calculate the amount of $45,000 required to give this work the life it deserves; and so make it available to the families who need it most.
Should I receive the necessary funding, it will be used to complete the following tasks:
1. Book layout and design including illustration, three reviews and subsequent amendments.
2. Hard copy printing, production and publication of an initial 1000 copies.
3. Digital and technological support for the following (I'm many things, but sadly I am not an IT person):
a) Create the digital reader version.
b) Build the audio version.
c) Film and produce the video instructional series (including studio and equipment hire, editing, graphics, software and packaging for online distribution).
d) Complete the technical tasks required to load all three formats onto a portal, ready for downloading.
e) Build an online support group where parents with questions can visit to engage with myself and other group members.
To aid this process and reduce the level of finance needed, I have paid for and completed a number of educational courses on book publishing, video structuring and scripting, sound recording and studio production work. As a bonus, this has given me access to a group of reputable industry professionals who support this project and so will, for a fair price, help me bring it to life. Furthermore, with my professional history in television and radio presenting, I am confident I can personally complete both the video and audio versions to a high standard of presentation, thereby saving the considerable costs associated with hiring a voice expert (to read the audio book) and an actor (to present the material to camera).
Although I have of course heard of Go Fund Me, I had not thought to seek help this way until a group of parents, who attended one of my school talks, mentioned this avenue. I am honoured to be doing this work and humbly ask you to find reason to help me bring this dream to life.
Please find here below a small sample of feedback I have received from families who have been exposed to my program including some photographs from recent
presentations. If you would like to see more of what I do please feel free to visit my website http://cliffbattley.com.au
Thank you for your time and consideration to contribute to this worthy project.
Cliff Battley
P.S. As a special show of appreciation, the names of all people and companies, who contribute $500 or more, will have the option of being listed in the Acknowledgements section of the hard copy and digitally published books as well as the educational video series.
"I attended Cliff’s talk on bullying tonight at The Southport School. Not only was it informative, it also gave me confidence in my approach to what I am doing. He delivered it in a positive yet logical way. I loved how he also added timely humour. These types of presentations can become very heavy at times, borderline boring, but in this case I enjoyed every minute. I hope more schools jump on board and offer parents this information as we are all now experiencing such a difficult and changing landscape of parenting.
- Rebecca Hutchison
"Listened to Cliff talk yesterday at Elanora State School. He was amazing. Great speaker who has an obvious passion to help kids. I recommend listening to him speak. Without a doubt the best hour I have spent listening to anyone!!"
- Joanne Mooney
"Cliff you are a personable and humble man with great expertise. The accessible, 'real' way you presented was informative and helpful. Keep up the good work."
- Loren Nel, Year 7 Dean, Emmanuel College
"I attended a talk that Cliff presented on bullying. It was great! He was passionate about the topic, and provided common sense, honest guidance for parenting children in this challenging world."
- Courtney Alyce
"I had the pleasure of seeing Cliff present at my son's school this evening. Great content and awesome connection with the audience. I thought he was spot on with his message and all of his points. Thanks Cliff great work."
- Dane Jansen
"Cliff’s humour softened the seriousness of the topic but not the impact of his message. Thoroughly recommend this session to all parents."
- Jane Clancy
"Cliff you are a legend. If only every primary school/kid had access to you and your amazing ability to shine a light on what’s truly important..... raising our kids to know self discipline = self esteem. You have changed the way I am parenting my kids. Thank you "
- Robin Curry