Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents Uncommon Sense for Child Professionals

by Taffel, Ron

• ISBN13: 9781572304758
• ISBN10: 1572304758
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-10-20
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

Widely known for his popular parenting guides, seasoned family therapist Ron Taffel now provides a commonsense handbook for child professionals working with challenging families. The book is filled with insights gleaned from Taffel's 25+ years of clinical experience and more than 1000 workshops conducted with parents, kids, and professionals. Provided are concrete strategies for building rapport with stressed-out parents, getting children and adolescents to talk about what really matters, spotting developmental and psychiatric problems before a crisis develops, and developing skills to strengthen kids' self-esteem and parents' effectiveness in setting limits. Special attention is given to the impact of pop culture and peer groups, as well as other pressing adolescent issues. Clearly recounted case vignettes get to the heart of what is going wrong between youngsters and their parents, and show how simple, empathic interventions can make a big difference. Also covered in

Author Biography

Ron Taffel, PhD, has supervised and written about working with children and families for over two decades. He is one of the country's most sought-after speakers for both professional and parent audiences. Dr. Taffel is the award-winning author of over 100 academic and popular articles, and has been a contributing editor at McCalls and Parents magazines for 10 years. His childrearing guides, translated into numerous languages, include the critically acclaimed Parenting By Heart, Why Parents Disagree, and Nurturing Good Children Now. He is founder of Family and Couples Treatment Services at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in New York City, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Table of Contents

Getting Started	1	(19)
How to Quickly Gather the Information That Counts
Down and Dirty Diagnosis	20	(24)
Spotting Developmental and Psychiatric Problems Early On
Tough Tykes	44	(21)
Getting Through to Difficult Children (2-10 Years Old)
Up Against the Wall	65	(20)
Getting Through to Difficult Parents
Gut Responses	85	(16)
Handling Anger, Outrage, Sexuality, and Other ``Unprofessional'' Feelings
Staying in Charge	101	(21)
Helping Parents Avoid the Traps of Modern Parenthood
The Second Family	122	(19)
Working with Adolescents in a Dangerous World
Resilient Kids	141	(27)
Nurturing Self-Esteem in 21 st-Century Children and Adolescents
The Power of Two	168	(26)
Helping Parents Create a United Front
Families Under Siege	194	(23)
Helping Parents and Children Connect
At the Millennium	217	(24)
Toward a New Paradigm for Working with Children and Parents
Index	241