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.

The Close sisters are descended from very prominent and wealthy ancestors. When the Close sisters were very young, their parents joined a cult called the MRA, or Moral Rearmament. The family was suddenly uprooted to a cult school in Switzerland and, ultimately, to the Belgian Congo where their father became a surgeon in the war-ravaged republic, and ultimately the personal physician to President Mobutu.

A leading clinical expert in the fields of child cognitive behavior therapy and anxiety disorders, Dr. Tamar Chansky frequently counsels children (and their parents) whose negative thinking creates chronic or occasional emotional hurdles and impedes optimism, flexibility, and happiness. Freeing Your Child from Negative Thinking provides parents, caregivers, and clinicians the same clear, concise, and compassionate guidance that Dr. Chansky employed in her previous guides to relieving children from anxiety and obsessive compulsive symptoms.

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.

Most parents understand that free, unstructured playtime is great for children’s development. What they may not know is that playful interaction with parents is also a powerful way for kids to cultivate healthy emotional development and resilience. Kids often want their parents to play with them, but many parents don’t know how to play or see it only as an (often boring) way to kill time. Playing with your kids doesn’t have to mean enrolling in countless parent-and-me classes or getting on all fours and making toy car sounds; the little daily moments together can make the most impact.

Nyna Giles was picking up groceries at the supermarket one day when she looked down and saw the headline on the cover of a tabloid: "Former Bridesmaid of Princess Grace Lives in Homeless Shelter". Nyna was stunned, shocked to see her family’s private ordeal made so public - the woman mentioned on that cover, Carolyn Scott Reybold, was her mother. In this powerful memoir of friendship and motherhood, Nyna Giles uncovers her mother’s past to answer the questions she never knew to ask.

Middle childhood, the period for those aged 8–12 years old, is often the most overlooked phase of a child’s development, but it’s the age where play continues to serve an important role in their emotional growth. It’s also an age where we are most likely to stop playing with our children. With over 20 years of clinical expertise and neuroscientific research, psychotherapist and parenting expert Joanna Fortune shares her proven techniques that will enable you to better understand your relationship with your children as they grow.

Sex education today generally falls into one of two categories: abstinence-only or abstinence-based education—both of which tend to withhold important, factual information and leave young adults ill-equipped to make safe decisions. Al Vernacchio, a high school sexuality educator who holds a Master’s degree in Human Sexuality from the University of Pennsylvania, has created a new category: sex-positive education.

Screenwise offers a realistic and optimistic perspective on how to thoughtfully guide kids in the digital age. Many parents feel that their kids are addicted, detached, or distracted because of their digital devices. Using the foundation of their own values and experiences, parents and educators can learn about the digital world to help set kids up for success in a world fueled by technology.

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!

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.

Durante mucho tiempo se nos ha vendido un modelo de crianza que por lo general no funciona y nos hace caer en una espiral de frustración y hastío. Recurrimos a estrategias como "el rincón de pensar" o a complejos sistemas de recompensa que pueden ser eficaces a corto plazo, pero que no nos permiten ayudar a nuestros hijos a desarrollar las habilidades necesarias para la vida.

La Dra. Becky Kennedy, creadora del innovador método Good Inside, se ha propuesto deconstruir los modelos tradicionales de crianza con dos objetivos principale...

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 this inspiring book, founders of The Holistic Life Foundation Ali Smith, Atman Smith, and Andres Gonzalez describe how they have spent the past twenty years teaching yoga, meditation, and breathwork to thousands of at-risk kids in Baltimore schools helping them to develop deep reserves of patience, empathy, resolve, and—when needed—the righteous anger that fuels deep structural change. Their work has received wide national attention due to their remarkable results.

Just as you prepared your home to welcome a new child, it is important to prepare your heart and mind - especially if the child has suffered from a background of trauma. Perhaps your invitation for love is met with hostility and you find that this new member of your family rejects connection. It’s critical to acknowledge the effects of trauma on a child’s ability to attach. Mike and Kristin Berry realized this when they became adoptive and foster parents. They now offer guidance from their own journey to others parenting a child who has experienced past trauma.

Millions of adults and children are discovering that the reason they can't seem to get organized, stop procrastinating, sit still, pay attention, and finish what they started is not a lack of self-discipline but, rather, an inborn neurological condition: Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD.

Reconnected Kids is a groundbreaking guide to help parents resolve their child's behavioral problems—without medication, strife, or drama. This empowering method shows parents how to first identify their own role in their child's behavior, and then how to guide the child to focus on goals, practice lifelong good habits, and stay motivated.

>n Making Grateful Kids, two of the leading authorities on gratitude among young people, Jeffrey J. Froh and Giacomo Bono, introduce their latest and most compelling research, announce groundbreaking findings, and share real-life stories from adults and youth to show parents, teachers, mentors, and kids themselves how to achieve greater life satisfaction through gratitude.

If you are constantly longing for love from someone else such as your parents, partner, or friends, you might want to revisit your childhood. As children, we didn’t receive the love we desire from our parents. So we are still seeking someone to fulfill this void in us. The truth is we have the capacity to love ourselves. The purpose of this book is to help you learn how to love yourself and be your own parent. What your parents failed to do for you in the past, you can do it for yourself now.

A revelatory investigation of human and animal adolescence and young adulthood from the New York Times best-selling authors of Zoobiquity.