Family Development

In her literary debut, internationally award-winning writer Courtney Zoffness considers what we inherit from generations past - biologically, culturally, spiritually - and what we pass on to our children.

He may not win Father of the Year, but Clint Edwards has won the hearts of thousands, thanks to his candor and irreverence when it comes to raising kids, being married, and learning from his mistakes. Clint has three children: Tristan (the know it all), Norah (the snarky princess), and Aspen (the worst roommate ever). He describes parenting as "a million different gears turning in a million different directions, all of them covered in sour milk." In this inspiring and unconventional book of essays, he sheds light on the darker yet hilarious side of domestic life.

Greer Kirshenbaum, PhD. is a neuroscientist, doula, and parent. Her work began with the goal of developing new treatments for poor mental health; she dreamed of creating a new medication to address conditions like anxiety, depression, addiction, and chronic stress. Over time, she realized that science had already uncovered a powerful medicine for alleviating mental health struggles, but the answer wasn’t a pill. It was a preventative approach: when babies' receive nurturing care in the first three years of life, it builds strong, resilient brains.

What happens when you're no longer setting goals and chasing dreams that work for you alone? When the career choices you make have ripple effects on your family? These are some of the questions you ask yourself as you struggle to balance managing your career with managing your family. In Managing Your Career, experts provide answers to the challenges you face as a working parent, from negotiating a flexible schedule to overcoming the parenthood penalty whether you're taking time off, treading water, or reentering the workforce.

Too many working parents focus solely on those around them, completely losing sight of what they need themselves. But neglecting your own needs and wants can prevent you from being healthy, productive, and happy. Taking Care of Yourself provides expert advice to help you identify what you value most out of your work and home life, make choices that align with those values, and manage the emotions that come with them.

Trauma can result not only from catastrophic events such as abuse, violence, or loss of loved ones, but from natural disasters and everyday incidents like auto accidents, medical procedures, divorce, or even falling off a bicycle. At the core of this book is the understanding of how trauma is imprinted on the body, brain, and spirit—often resulting in anxiety, nightmares, depression, physical illnesses, addictions, hyperactivity, and aggression.

Over her decades as a clinical psychologist, Dr. Mona Delahooke has routinely counseled distraught parents who struggle to manage their children’s challenging, sometimes oppositional behaviors. These families are understandably focused on correcting or improving a child’s lack of compliance, emotional outbursts, tantrums, and other “out of control” behavior. But, as she has shared with these families, a perspective shift is needed. Behavior, no matter how challenging, is not the problem but a symptom; a clue about what is happening in a child’s unique physiologic makeup.

David J. Lieberman understands that a change in perspective is all that is needed to help keep from flying off the handle. In Never Get Angry Again, he reveals how to see anger through a comprehensive, holistic lens, illuminates the underlying emotional, spiritual, and physical components of anger, and gives listeners simple, practical tools to snuff out anger before it even occurs.

The story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some information about the audiobook, but in this case we think that would spoil the listening. We think it's important that you start to listen without knowing what it is about.

In the last 30 years, the process of starting a family has drastically changed. There many more options for getting pregnant and dizzying array of variables from start to finish. Genetic test or no genetic test? Midwife or OB-GYN? All this choice can create anxiety, especially around the most difficult realities. Miscarriages and fertility issues are common, yet often concealed. One in nine mothers report dealing with postpartum depression, but it is rarely acknowledged and even more rarely treated. Enter Leslie Schrock, first-time mother whose own struggles opened her eyes.

After being dumped by his longtime girlfriend, 28-year-old Justin Halpern found himself living at home with his 73-year-old dad. Sam Halpern, who is “like Socrates, but angrier, and with worse hair,” has never minced words, and when Justin moved back home, he began to record all the ridiculous things his dad said to him.

Improve your personal relationships! Most people’s lives are complicated by family relationships. Birth order, our parents’ relationship, and the “rules” we were brought up with can affect our self-esteem and relationships with spouses, children, and other family members. Family of origin therapy and techniques can help you create better relationships.

In richly anecdotal detail, Goleman brings to life the field of social neuroscience that has emerged in the decade since the publication of Emotional Intelligence. He shows that, far more than we are consciously aware, our daily encounters with parents, spouses, bosses, and even strangers shape our brains and affect cells throughout our bodies. Our relationships create a setpoint for our daily moods and influence our immune response; they are crucial to achievement in students and workers; they determine whether or not some genes are expressed, for good or ill.

This charming little tale, with a gigantic heart, was written by E.B. White, best-known for the perennial favorite Charlotte's Web.

The Family Board Meeting is a carefully designed, easy-to-follow strategy for creating quality time with your children. It takes only a few minutes to plan your first Board Meeting, and it's guaranteed to be a ton of fun for both you and your child!

Pregnancy books for couples abound, but You Got This, Dad is just for guys. Aaron Sharp, a dad of four, draws from his experiences to help husbands, especially first-time dads, navigate the amazing, uncertain, and sometimes scary process of pregnancy and childbirth. With self-deprecating honesty, plenty of humor, and amusing asides from his lovely wife, Elaina, Aaron steers soon-to-be dads through the complex events and emotions surrounding pregnancy.

There is a war on masculinity, and everywhere we look—on every front we hold sacred—we can see the painful reminders of this collapsing order. The chaos and crisis we are experiencing today should be a signal for men everywhere to rise up; to fight to preserve our way of life by once again walking the ancient paths. But this isn’t a journey that need be taken alone.

Pastor Scott Kedersha has worked with more than 5,000 premarital couples to prepare them for the biggest decision of their lives. In Ready or Knot?, he offers practical and Christ-centered guidance for couples for all of the days after the wedding day.

Contrary to what was once believed, ADHD that starts earlier in childhood usually persists into the teen years. Yet even experienced parents are often caught unawares by the fresh challenges that adolescence brings. This book is one of the few to address ADHD in the context of teen friendships, dating, curfews, sports, and extracurricular activities. It also offers practical advice from a leading psychologist on determining readiness to drive and instilling good homework and study habits.

In 1994, Driven to Distraction sparked a revolution in our understanding of attention deficit disorder. Now a second revolution is under way in the approach to ADD, and the news is great. Drug therapies, our understanding of the role of diet and exercise, even the way we define the disorder, all are changing radically. And doctors are realizing that millions of adults suffer from this condition, though the vast majority of them remain undiagnosed and untreated.