At the Mercy of Externals: Righting Wrongs and Protecting Kids

by Roberts, David L., Ph.D.

• ISBN13: 9781475916379
• ISBN10: 147591637X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-05-23
• Publisher: Author Solutions

Summary

Protecting children from all forms of abuse and understanding their formative years is on the minds of today's professionals and families. In At the Mercy of Externals, author Dr. David L. Roberts provides a practical model to successfully guide kids into adulthood. He introduces his Roberts FLAGS model (or RFLAGS), which explains how we tend to act out emotion-based anxiety rather than face the issues from the past that are often fueling our negative emotions of Fear, Loneliness, Anger, Guilt, and Shame. The model serves as a visual and intellectual way to understand the development of maladaptive behavior, and it is a means of helping us to understand that behavior is not necessarily representative of who we are as a person. A companion to Psyche-Soul-ology, At the Mercy of Externals advocates a two-step approach to the problems families, kids, and professionals face in various situations and contexts. Roberts uses examples from his dysfunctional childhood, combined with his professional experiences helping at-risk youth, to demonstrate the importance of repairing our lives as adults as a preliminary step to nurturing and protecting children.

Excerpts

An Oath To Children An Excerpt form Chapter 6 - At the Mercy of Extrnals: Righting Wrongs and Protecting Kids At this moment I choose to take you into my life. I do so either by creating you as a parent would; or by willingly accepting the fact our paths have crossed through no design of your own. I have chosen this role as part of my own journey through life, and the crossing of our paths is the direct result of my own destiny. Because of this I will take very seriously the responsibility of providing for you in every way. My responsibilities will be limited only by the role I will now play in your life. Therefore, I promise to know myself at the deepest level possible. While striving to be the most positively effective role model I can possibly be for you, I will seek to resolve every negative element from my past. I will give you the acceptance and respect you deserve, and I will correct very quickly any mistakes I will make along the way. I am here to meet your needs, and ask only that you apply yourself to the fullest level of your potential. I seek not to make you, but only to nurture you into the exciting discovery of your true nature relative to who you can become. I want only to set the potential into motion, and then applaud as you learn to create the motion for yourself, as your Self. This is my solemn and heartfelt commitment to you in recognition of the wonder of your uniqueness.