Family Psychology

Parents, educators, and the media wring their hands about the plight of America's children and teens - soaring rates of emotional problems, limited coping skills, disengagement from learning - and yet there are ways to reverse these disheartening trends. Teach Your Children Well acknowledges that every parent wants successful children. However, until we are clearer about our core values and the parenting choices that are most likely to lead to authentic, and not superficial, success, we will continue to raise exhausted, externally driven, impaired children.

Despite all her best efforts to break the cycle of catastrophic, destructive patterns of mental illness, Anna Berry found herself at the end of her rope - unemployed, penniless, homeless, and in the throes of a psychotic episode that threatened to destroy her life. Alone and unwell, she manages to find her grip on life, seeks the help she needs, and embarks on a life and career that illustrate that mental illness does not have to be ruinous.

Old age is not what it used to be. For the first time ever, most people in the United States are living into their eighties. The first guide of its kind, Eightysomethings changes our understanding of old age with an upbeat and emotionally savvy view of the uncharted territory of the last stage of life. With insight and humor, Dr. Katharine Esty describes the series of dramatic and difficult transitions that eightysomethings usually experience and how, despite their losses, they so often find themselves unexpectedly happy.

Losing a spouse is like waking up in a nightmare that never ends. Your own grief is hard enough to deal with, but it can feel like a daunting and impossible task when you have children to raise in the midst of the loss. In this inspiring guide to living again after the loss of a spouse, Dr. Roneisa Matero will inspire and empower you through her "Courage Process". She will share the techniques she learned while going through her own journey with grief after losing her husband.

For years, we’ve been led to believe that great grades, high test scores, and college acceptance are key to a successful life. Yet our laser focus on these achievements leaves students feeling anxious, demoralized, and unprepared. What if we’ve overlooked the critical skills young adults need to navigate an ever-changing world? What fundamental skills help young people adapt, persevere, and thrive? Academic advisor and early career development expert Ana Homayoun answers these questions and more in her accessible and solutions-oriented guide to transforming future generations.

Are you feeling overwhelming resentment toward your narcissistic mother? Do you feel frustrated because you can’t seem to find a way to heal and establish loving relationships with others? Award-winning author and narcissistic-abuse survivor Nanette Abigail knows a thing or two about this sensitive issue, laying out the crucial tools she used to create safe havens and find mental clarity for herself, and with her help, you can, too!

Instead of saying “This is what you do,” then leaving you to it, Beverley takes you by the hand and troubleshoots all the games so that you can get them absolutely right. And the joy is that this is all achieved without shouting, force, or intimidation. Just pure undiluted fun! This first book in the series of Essential Skills for a Brilliant Family Dog introduces you to the concepts of how to get what you want from your dog, and then sends him off to sleep for you.

Being a teenager has never been easy, but in recent years, with the rise of the Internet and social media, it has become exponentially more challenging. Bullying, once thought of as the province of queen bees and goons, has taken on new, complex, and insidious forms, as parents and educators know all too well.

Why don't our kids do what we want them to do? Parents often take the blame for misbehavior, but this obscures a broader trend: in our modern, highly connected age, children have less self-control than ever. About half of the current generation of children will develop a mood or behavioral disorder or a substance addiction by age 18. Contemporary kids need to learn independence and responsibility, yet our old ideas of punishments and rewards are preventing this from happening.

I've been through decades of being subjected to my mother’s narcissism, and it was only when I hit my lowest point that my survival instinct kicked in: I either cut ties with my mother or I developed ways to deal with her hurtful, damaging behavior. Neither option was going to be easy, but both were going to ensure I could heal, find my self-worth for the first time, and begin to thrive. I would no longer be living in her shadow. Dealing with your narcissistic mother means taking back control.

When your mother abused you, bullied you, neglected you, and used you for her selfish gain, it was not your fault. When she made you feel trapped and like there was nowhere else for you to go, it was not your fault. And when you realized your toxic relationship with her ruined other relationships in your life, it was not your fault. Daughters of narcissistic mothers often find themselves growing up feeling massive amounts of pain, confusion, and fear in their lives.

In The Incurable Romantic, Frank Tallis recounts the extraordinary stories of patients who are, quite literally, madly in love: A woman becomes utterly convinced that her dentist is secretly infatuated with her and drives him to leave the country; a man destroys his massive fortune through trysts with more than 3,000 prostitutes - because his ego requires that they fall in love with him; a beautiful woman's pathological jealousy destroys the men who love her.

Every kid needs horseplay! Roughhousing is an essential part of childhood development—but it is increasingly overshadowed by screens and structured activities. In Unplug and Play, a doctor and a child psychologist, both dads, introduce parents to the benefits of physical play for young children. Drawing from gymnastics, martial arts, ballet, team sports, and even animal behavior, the authors present fun full-contact activities for parents and children to enjoy together.

When it comes to relationships, theres no shortage of advice from self-help experts, pick-up artists, and glossy magazines. But modern-day myths of attraction often have no basis in fact or worse are rooted in little more than misogyny. In Attraction Explained, psychologist Viren Swami debunks these myths and draws on cutting-edge research to provide a ground-breaking and evidence-based account of relationship formation.

Can you teach your child to be kind? This vital question is taking on a new urgency as our culture grows ever more abrasive and divided. A world-renowned developmental psychologist, Dr. Thomas Lickona has lead the character education movement in schools for 40 years and now he shares with parents the vital tools they need to create a culture of kindness at home. Kindness doesn’t stand on its own. It needs a supporting cast of other essential virtues - like self-control, good judgment, courage, and gratitude.

In The New Childhood, Jordan Shapiro provides a hopeful counterpoint to the fearful hand-wringing that has come to define our narrative around children and technology. Drawing on groundbreaking research in economics, psychology, philosophy, and education, The New Childhood shows how technology is guiding humanity toward a bright future in which our children will be able to create new, better models of global citizenship, connection, and community.

Parenting through the teenage years can be challenging and overwhelming. With more than 20 years of clinical practice, psychotherapist and parenting expert Joanna Fortune has devised a simple and proven 15-minute parenting model packed with practical, playful, and creative communication techniques to strengthen your relationship with your teenager.

Rachel Simmons is a New York Times best-selling author and the founding director of the Girls' Leadership Institute. The Curse of the Good Girl looks into the phenomenon of the glass ceiling placed on girls who attempt to live up to the standard of being "good". Simmons then shows how parents can help build girls' self-esteem and give them the strength to pursue their goals.

Parenting just got tougher. As your child's brain rewires, hormones kick in, and independence beckons, a perfect storm for family conflict emerges. But help is at hand. Divided into two sections—aged 8 to 10 and aged 10 to 12—this practical parenting book is grounded in evidence-based psychology, exploring the science at work during this period of your child's development. Taking 75 everyday scenarios, the book tackles real-world issues head-on, from sibling clashes and sulks to more serious concerns as your child edges towards their teenage years.

Long before they can talk, babies communicate their experience of the world through laughter and tears. Until now, however, psychologists and parenting experts have largely focused on moments of stress and confusion. Dr. Caspar Addyman is a developmental psychologist who decided to change that. For six years Caspar has run the Baby Laughter project, collecting data, videos, and stories from parents all over the world. He learned that laughter and smiles are of central importance at the start of life, defining our cognitive and emotional development.