Parent Resources

• Teach Your Children Well: Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More than Grades, Trophies, or “Fat Envelopes”

 I really enjoyed this book; it is practical and informative. In it, she discusses the critical psychological and emotional tasks of children from ages 5-18. Then in the third part, she teaches parents about seven essential coping skills for teens and gives parents practical suggestions about how to instill these.

From amazon: “Psychologist Madeline Levine Brings together cutting-edge research and thirty years of clinical experience to explode once and for all the myth that good grades, high test scores, and college acceptances should define the parenting endgame. Teach Your Children Well is a toolbox for parents, providing information, relevant research, and a series of exercises to help parents clarify a definition of success that is in line with their own values as well as their children’s interests and abilities. “

• The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating A Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids by Madeline Levine, Ph.D.
  

I read this book a few years ago with my book club, and we really learned a lot. At the time, I had several friends whose teens were struggling with depression, anxiety, and suicide. Madeline Levine, a practicing psychologist for over 25 years, addresses how in recent years, studies have shown that bright, high-achieving, materially advantaged kids from loving families are experiencing high rates of depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders. Levine talks about the cultural influences and well-intentioned but harmful parenting practices that contribute to this phenomenon.

•  Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers by Michael Riera, PhD.

Last year, I read this practical handbook filled with powerful, practical advice and specific strategies for raising well-adjusted teens. It is a wonderful resource for parents, providing information about the development of adolescence, the pressures they face, and the ways to encourage healthy decision making. I really liked some of the practical suggestions regarding ways to talk to our teens.

• How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims

I just finished reading this book last month and really enjoyed it. It discusses how all of us as parents want to raise children who are happy and self-sufficient; however, much of today’s parenting can actually backfire. Lythcott-Haims offers practical, alternative strategies that underline the importance of allowing children to make their own mistakes and develop the resourcefulness and inner determination necessary for success. www.howtoraiseanadult.com.

•  The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal.

I read this book at Bob Leece’s recommendation and attended a seminar and heard the author speak. She explains the exciting new research showing how stress can actually benefit us if we learn how to utilize it. Watch her TED talk “How to Make Stress Your Friend” Sept 2013.

From amazon: More than forty-four percent of Americans admit to losing sleep over stress. And while most of us do everything we can to reduce it, Stanford psychologist and bestselling author Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., delivers a startling message: Stress isn’t bad. In The Upside of Stress, McGonigal highlights new research indicating that stress can, in fact, make us stronger, smarter, and happier—if we learn how to embrace it.

Helpful websites, articles, resources

Here are some resources I’ve come across that may be helpful to you.

Meditation and Mindfulness:

• Strength in the Storm: Transform stress, live in balance, and find peace of mind by Eknath Eswaran. This is a wonderful book about coping with stress and anxiety, and simply, in general, finding the strength to meet the challenges and crisis that all of us face in everyday life. http://www.easwaran.org/

• The Mindful Teen: Powerful skills to help you handle stress one moment at a time by Dzung X. VO, MD, FAAP

This guide offers many mindfulness-based techniques for teens. The author is a pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine. His medical practice, teaching and research emphasize promoting resilience in young people to help them thrive in the face of complex stress and adversity. New Harbinger Publications’ Mindful Teen web page. http://www.newharbinger.com/30802

• com. This is the website that goes along with the book. It has several guided meditations for teens, some as little as 5 minutes. (Facebook: www.facebook.com/themindfulteen)

• Mindfulness for Teen Anxiety: A workbook for overcoming anxiety at home, at school & everywhere else. By Christopher Willard, PsyD. New Harbinger Publications, 2014. In this book the author offers teens some proven-effective mindfulness based practices to help them cope with anxiety.

• The Stress Reduction Workbook for Teens: Mindfulness Skills to Help you Deal with Stress by Gina M. Biegel, MA, LMFT. This is a collection of 37 simple workbook activities that help teach teens how to reduce worries using mindfulness techniques. New Harbinger Publications, 2009.