Family Development

No wonder Smart Love has gotten media attention galore and was even recommended by Ann Landers. The smart love approach offers a new and better way to steer through the extremes of "tough love" and unbridled permissiveness. Parents and children alike will benefit from these innovative principles for raising happy and responsible adults. The good news is that no matter how unhappy or difficult children may be, it is not too late to create positive, loving relationships.

In 2016, the morning after Valentine's Day, Luke's son passed away from breathing issues complicated by congenital birth defects. He was 21 months old. And his name was Finnegan. This kind of loss is terrifyingly huge and scary, but the love and light in this story far outweigh the tragedy. Through comic-book metaphors, Shakespeare references, and lilting Irish brogues, Luke tells the story of his too-short time with Finn. This is his tribute to storytelling, parenthood, and his rosy-cheeked, blue-eyed baby boy.

Every family has a story. For some of us, our family of origin is a solid foundation that feeds our confidence and helps us navigate life’s challenges. For others, it’s a source of pain, hurt, and conflict that can feel like a lifelong burden. In this empowering guide, licensed therapist and bestselling relationship expert Nedra Glover Tawwab offers clear advice for identifying dysfunctional family patterns and choosing the best path to breaking the cycle and moving forward.

If your son or daughter is suffering from anxiety, you probably have more questions than answers: What is causing the anxiety? Is this normal teenage angst or something more serious? What can I do to help? Jessica Thompson, the mother of three teens, has seen kids struggle with anxiousness. She wants you to understand the issues surrounding teenage anxiety and how our culture, the church, and perhaps even you may be contributing to the problem.

In Growing Strong Girls, Lindsay Sealey reveals the tremendous power of connection to activate self-awareness, inner strength, and confidence in girls. It all starts with a nurturing and secure connection between you and her.

Difficult Conversations teaches you how to handle even the toughest conversations more effectively and with less anxiety. Based on 15 years of work at Harvard Negotiation Project and consultations with thousands of people, the authors answer the question: When people confront the conversations they dread the most, what works? Difficult Conversations walks you through a proven, concrete, step-by-step approach for understanding and conducting tough conversations.

Parents love this book because it puts them in control; experts love it because it's based on the latest medical research and recommendations from leading health organizations. Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn provides the information and guidance you need to make informed decisions about having a safe and satisfying pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period - decisions that reflect your preferences, priorities, and values.

In a compelling narrative that introduces historical and contemporary research on self-directed education, Unschooled also spotlights how a diverse group of individuals and organizations are evolving an old schooling model of education. These innovators challenge the myth that children need to be taught in order to learn.

Elizabeth Berg’s father was an Army veteran who was a tough man in every way but one: He showed a great deal of love and tenderness to his wife. Berg describes her parents’ marriage as a romance that lasted for nearly 70 years; she grew up watching her father kiss her mother upon leaving home, and kiss her again the instant he came back. His idea of when he should spend time away from her was never. But then her father developed Alzheimer’s disease, and her parents were forced to leave the home they loved and move into a facility that could offer them help.

Love is important, but it is respect that is the key to your son's heart. The idea of moms respecting their sons may sound alien to some, but it seems to ignite curiosity across the board. It is easy to relate to the need for all of us to feel a mother's love, but is that the same thing as respect? Even for young boys, the effect of respect is nothing short of astounding when applied properly.

One night during his divorce, after one too many vodkas and a call with a phone-in-therapist who told him to “journal his feelings,” Matthew Fray started a blog. He needed to figure out how his ex-wife went from the eighteen-year-old college freshman who adored him to the angry woman who thought he was an asshole and left him. As he pieced together the story of his marriage and its end, Matthew began to realize a hard truth: even though he was a decent guy, he was a bad husband.

Most of us know someone who, for whatever reason, always seems to cause problems, irritate others, or incite conflict. Often, these people are a part of our daily lives. The truth is that these trouble makers haven't necessarily asked to be this way. Sometimes we need to learn new approaches to deal with people who are harder to get along with or love.

When Kristina Kuzmic started to see signs that her otherwise sunny, resilient teenage son was struggling, she felt sure that a few simple fixes would right the ship. Over the following months, the issues her family faced were more nuanced, complicated, and pervasive than she could've predicted. Not only that, the obligations, ideas, and unrealistic standards she'd unintentionally aborbed from parenting culture and social media made it impossible to ask for help, or even put into action the tools she'd been sure she'd deploy in a crisis.

A five-step guide for building better connections with family, friends, and lovers, The Relationship Cure offers a simple but profound program that will fundamentally transform the quality of all the relationships in your life.

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.

What the award-winning, best-selling Boundaries has done for adult relationships, Boundaries with Kids will do for you and your children. Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend provide the help and guidance you need for raising your kids to take responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and emotions. With wisdom and empathy, they take you through the ins and outs of instilling the kind of character in your children that will help them lead balanced, productive, and fulfilling adult lives.

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.

In The Vaccine-Friendly Plan, Paul Thomas, MD, presents his proven approach to building immunity: a new protocol that limits a child's exposure to aluminum, mercury, and other neurotoxins while building overall good health.

As a parent or guardian of a teenaged boy, you understand the unique challenges that you have to overcome - your son’s lack of communication and poor listening skills, the mood swings, lack of discipline and, maybe, even some personal hygiene issues. But the same precious and loving son is still in that overgrown, clumsy body. You just must learn to understand that most of what you are dealing with is a normal part of going through puberty and maturing.

As a husband and the father of four young boys, Lencioni realized the discrepancy between the time and energy his clients put into running their organizations and the reactive way most people run their personal lives. Having experienced the stress of a frantic family firsthand, he and his wife began applying some of the tools he uses with Fortune 500 companies at home, and with surprising results.