Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents: Uncommon Sense for Child Professionals (Paperback)
Description
From experienced therapist Ron Taffel--widely known for his popular parenting guides--this is a commonsense handbook for any mental health, education, or medical professional working with challenging kids and parents. Provided are concrete strategies for building rapport with stressed-out families, 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. Illustrative case vignettes get to the heart of what is going wrong between youngsters and their parents and show how simple, concrete interventions can make a big difference. Also covered in depth are ways for professionals to handle their own emotional responses in highly charged situations.
About the Author
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 to <I>McCall’s<I*> and <I>Parents<I*> magazines for 14 years. His childrearing guides, translated into numerous languages, include the critically acclaimed <I>Parenting by Heart,<I*> <I>Nurturing Good Children Now,<I*> and <I>When Parents Disagree,<I*> as well as the professional handbooks <I>Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents<I*> and <*I>Breaking Through to Teens<*>. His latest popular book on adolescence, <I>The Second Family<I*>, was recently released in paperback. Dr. Taffel is the 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.
Praise for Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents: Uncommon Sense for Child Professionals…
"I have used Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents for 3 years in a graduate counseling course focusing on children and adolescents. Student feedback has been consistently positive for Taffel’s positive approach and practical solutions for working with challenging client families."--John W. Seymour, PhD, LMFT, RPT-S, Department of Counseling and Student Personnel, Minnesota State University, Mankato
"This impressive book will be read and reread for the wealth of information it contains. It will be of assistance to any professional who works with children and parents: mental health practitioners, teachers, clergy, coaches. In a very clear, informative manner, the book portrays the challenges and stresses that confront families today, and offers realistic guidelines for ways in which professionals can help parents meet these challenges. Taffel's insight, knowledge, compassion, and caring are evident on every page. He should be applauded for his continued contributions to improving the lives of families."--Robert Brooks, PhD, Harvard Medical School; author of The Self-Esteem Teacher
"In Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents, Taffel presents practical advice drawn from a wealth of experience. His pragmatic approach provides a number of very effective techniques for connecting with youth and their families. Taffel's recommendations are timely, addressing recent changes and challenges in our society. This book will be very useful to all professionals helping children grow."--James P. Comer, MD, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center
"At last, a truly practical book for clinicians working with children and parents. Taffel has written a sensitive and clear handbook that can be used by beginning and experienced therapists alike. He effectively captures the everyday problems confronted by clinicians and suggests direct and innovative ways to address them. In a simple and readable style, the author has translated his years of experience into learnable lessons for helping professionals. This book has helped me see my own clients more clearly. If you work with parents, you should read this book!"--Peter L. Sheras, PhD, ABPP, Curry Programs in Clinical and School Psychology, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia
"Thorough and accessible. The book provides comprehensive, step-by-step suggestions for gathering information, 'getting through to,' and counseling difficult children and parents. Taffel draws on his rich professional experience to provide numerous examples and anecdotes that clarify his strategies and make them concrete. This is an ideal resource for school professionals and others who work with children and parents."--Marlynn M. Griffin, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychological Foundations, College of Education, Georgia Southern University
"This is a clear, direct guide for professionals who deal with challenging children and their families. Taffel provides an approach that emphasizes pragmatic effectiveness over heavy theory. The book moves easily from the personal level of the individual child and family to the societal level, proposing practical interventions on both fronts. All child professionals will appreciate the good sense of Getting Through."--Lawrence H. Diller, MD, author of Running on Ritalin; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
"Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents is a treasure for the new millennium: Ron Taffel is a passionate, systemic thinker who never loses sight of individual differences. His entirely accessible suggestions and compelling case examples offer hope and inspiration to weary professionals and uncertain novices alike. Taffel is empathically attuned to kids, their parents, and to us, persuasively urging all to know ourselves and each other better--and offering a cornucopia of wonderful suggestions for how to do it. This remarkably lucid and thoughtful book brings together the very best of child and family intervention."--Martha B. Straus, PhD, Clinical Associate and Instructor, Dartmouth Medical School; author of No-Talk Therapy for Children and Adolescents
