Personal growth

Parents no longer have time to read long books about the theories of parenting. What they want are quick pieces of advice geared to their busy lifestyles and immediate needs. Dr. Jenn comes to the rescue with this fun yet useful book that offers 26 short chapters on everything from pets to being a sports parent to healthy relationships to food to keeping your marriage as much fun as it was before the children arrived. Designed to be browsed or picked up from time to time for specific help, the book provides insight and guidance for any parent but focuses on those with toddlers to third grade. Upbeat, lively, and humorous, this book answers parents’ most frequent questions about how to raise a healthy, well-adjusted child. Because every chapter is only a few pages long and can stand on its own, busy parents can read what they need when they need it.

Psychoanalytic Reflections on Parenting Teens and Young Adults explores the rich, multi-layered parent-child interactions that unfold during the period of separation and launching. While this is a necessary transitional time, parents inevitably experience feelings of loss and longing for the past as well as hope for the future.

Raising children is a sacred calling—and not for the faint of heart. It shapes the parent every bit as much as parents shape their children. In Devotions for Sacred Parenting, Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Parenting, delves deeper into the conversation and contemplates the soul-transforming journey of being a parent.

What does it take to rear a firstborn child? Renowned psychologist Kevin Leman educates moms and dads on the essentials of parenting and expounds on the traits that characterize firstborn children so new parents know what to expect. He explains how birth order can influence each stage of development--from infancy on into young adulthood. This book will help first-time parents--especially mothers--adjust to their new situation and role while raising a happy, healthy child.

Anyone who has ever given birth knows that a mother’s worrying is never done. And today, with competitive parenting at fever pitch, women are bombarded with more conflicting advice and things to worry about than ever. This hilarious book—by a mom, for moms—is a fun gift for the discerning mother who is willing to laugh at herself and those around her, covering everything from nutrition ("Does pesto count as one of my toddler’s five a day?") to playtime ("My four-year-old daughter has an imaginary friend called Neil. Should I be concerned?") Packed with features, lists, and illustrations, it’s a welcome slice of light relief from all the panicking moms are expected to do these days.

“Thompson captures the ache, fizz, yearning and frustration of being the father of adolescent boys.” —Michael Chabon “What a riveting, touching, and painful read!” —Maria Semple “Fun, moving, raw, and relatable.” —Tony Hawk What makes a good father, and what makes one a failure? Does less-is-more parenting inspire independence and strength, or does it encourage defiance and trouble? Kickflip Boys is the story of a father’s struggle to understand his willful skateboarder sons, challengers of authority and convention, to accept his role as a vulnerable “skate dad,” and to confront his fears that the boys are destined for an unconventional and potentially fraught future. With searing honesty, Neal Thompson traces his sons’ progression through all the stages of skateboarding: splurging on skate shoes and boards, having run-ins with security guards, skipping classes and defying teachers, painting graffiti, drinking and smoking, and more. As the story veers from funny to treacherous and back, from skateparks to the streets, Thompson must confront his complicity and fallibility. He also reflects on his upbringing in rural New Jersey, and his own adventures with skateboards, drugs, danger, and defiance. A story of thrill-seeking teens, of hope and love, freedom and failure, Kickflip Boys reveals a sport and a community that have become a refuge for adolescent boys who don’t fit in. Ultimately, it’s the survival story of a loving modern American family, of acceptance, forgiveness, and letting go.

This volume focuses on context considerations in family-school partnership research. The book examines how cultural diversity, including differences in parenting (e.g., race, education, family history) and diverse school variables (e.g., location, population, organization,) can affect family-school partnerships. Its bio ecological perspective pinpoints critical areas that studies need to address for real-world utility, such as parental commitment and developmental considerations. Although the book’s focus is research, chapters present program designs and evaluations along with ideas for community involvement and policy. The authors also explore the changing landscape for home-school partnerships resulting from the impact of technology, which is rapidly becoming a central player in organizing research and bringing interventions to life.

An accompanying parent’s guide filled with effective techniques to help challenging children with traumatic pasts. Designed as a manual to complement the clinician’s guide, this book is written for birth, foster, or adoptive parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, or anyone who may be raising a child who has experienced attachment loss and trauma. Their severe behaviors can often leave caregivers feeling confused, frightened, hurt, and overwhelmed, as they struggle to make sense of a massive amount of information―and misinformation―that exists on attachment issues. This book provides understanding, validation, and solutions for these caregivers. In it, the authors explain their innovative model of “team” treatment that includes an EMDR therapist and a family therapist. Best used in conjunction with therapeutic help, it walks readers through an array of parenting strategies that will lead them to a deeper understanding of their traumatized child, and better enable them to calm their behavior and improve their attachment security so they can heal. 7 illustrations

Most driving literature for parents focuses on how to teach a teen to drive, without explaining why teen driving is so dangerous in the first place or giving parents a plan to preempt hazards. Providing fully updated and expanded advice, this second edition of Not So Fast empowers and guides parents, guardians, and other adults who supervise teen drivers. Coauthors Tim Hollister, a father who lost his teenage son in a crash, and Pam Shadel Fischer, a nationally known traffic safety expert who is also a mother of a teen driver, prove that supervision before driving is as important to lowering crash rates as teaching teens how to turn at a busy intersection. This authoritative guide tackles hot-button issues such as texting and distracted driving, parenting attitudes (conscious and unconscious), and teen impairment and fatigue—and includes a combination of topics not found in other teen driving guides, such as how brain development affects driving, evaluating the circumstances of every driving trip, and the limits of driver training programs. Current research and statistics and additions dealing with hands-free devices and drowsy driving make this new edition a valuable resource for anyone concerned about teen drivers. Proceeds from the sale of this book support the Reid Hollister Memorial Fund, which subsidizes infant and toddler education in greater Hartford, Connecticut, and worthy traffic safety causes.

This ain’t your parents’ parenting book.  In parenting, there is a case to be made for putting your oxygen mask on first. This refreshingly humorous yet effective guide on the oh-so-serious business of parenting reminds us that being a successful parent means first being a successful human. Part philosophy, part implementation―including recipes, tips, and exercises―Sid Garza-Hillman’s damn-is-it-tough-to-stay-happy-and-healthy-these-days resource is a must-have for anyone who is or will be a parent. 

A lively and provocative look at the modern culture of motherhood and at the social, economic, and political forces that shaped current ideas about parenting What is wrong with this picture? That's the question Judith Warner asks in this national bestseller after taking a good, hard look at the world of modern parenting--at anxious women at work and at home and in bed with unhappy husbands.

The Co-Parenting Handbook helps parents confidently take on the challenges of guiding children through divorce or separation and raising them skillfully in two homes. Addressing parents’ questions about the emotional impact of separation, conflict, grief, and recovery, the authors provide a road map for all family members to safely navigate through separation/divorce and beyond. Through tested and reassuring guidance, parents will discover how to move from angry, hurt partners to constructive, successful co-parents who are able to put their children’s needs first. Chock-full of strategies to help resolve day-to-day issues, create boundaries, and establish guidelines, this handbook will help ensure kids and co-parents thrive.

The Bingo Theory unites us all. Men are not from Mars and Women are not from Venus. We are all from Planet Earth. The traditional view of masculine and feminine energy is very black and white. If you are a woman, you are considered to be feminine, and similarly if you are a man, you are considered to be masculine. This outdated and inadequate mindset has lead to a tremendous imbalance both internally in our lives, as well as externally in our world.

With A Theory of General Ethics Warwick Fox both defines the field of General Ethics and offers the first example of a truly general ethics. Specifically, he develops a single, integrated approach to ethics that encompasses the realms of interhuman ethics, the ethics of the natural environment, and the ethics of the built environment. Thus Fox offers what is in effect the first example of an ethical "Theory of Everything."Fox refers to his own approach to General Ethics as the "theory of responsive cohesion." He argues that the best examples in any domain of interest--from psychology to politics, from conversations to theories--exemplify the quality of responsive cohesion, that is, they hold together by virtue of the mutual responsiveness of the elements that constitute them. Fox argues that the relational quality of responsive cohesion represents the most fundamental value there is. He then develops the theory of responsive cohesion, central features of which include the elaboration of a "theory of contexts" as well as a differentiated model of our obligations in respect of all beings. In doing this, he draws on cutting-edge work in cognitive science in order to develop a powerful distinction between beings who use language and beings that do not.Fox tests his theory against eighteen central problems in General Ethics--including challenges raised by abortion, euthanasia, personal obligations, politics, animal welfare, invasive species, ecological management, architecture, and planning--and shows that it offers sensible and defensible answers to the widest possible range of ethical problems.

The Tao of Islam is a rich and diverse anthology of Islamic teachings on the nature of the relationships between God and the world, the world and the human being, and the human being and God. Focusing on gender symbolism, Sachiko Murata shows that Muslim authors frequently analyze the divine reality and its connections with the cosmic and human domains with a view toward a complementarity or polarity of principles that is analogous to the Chinese idea of yin/yang. Murata believes that the unity of Islamic thought is found, not so much in the ideas discussed, as in the types of relationships that are set up among realities. She pays particular attention to the views of various figures commonly known as "Sufis" and "philosophers," since they approach these topics with a flexibility and subtlety not found in other schools of thought. She translates several hundred pages, most for the first time, from more than thirty important Muslims including the Ikhwan al-Safa', Avicenna, and Ibn al-'Arabi.

Long recognized as the authoritative guide for clinicians working with divorcing families, this book presents crucial concepts, strategies, and intervention techniques. Robert E. Emery describes how to help parents navigate the emotional and legal hurdles of this painful family transition while protecting their children's well-being. The book is grounded in cutting-edge research on family relationships, parenting, and children's adjustment, including Emery's groundbreaking longitudinal study of the impact of divorce mediation versus litigation. It provides a detailed treatment manual for mediating custody and other disputes, developing collaborative parenting plans, and fostering positive postdivorce family relationships. New to This Edition *Reflects the latest psychological research, as well as divorce and custody law. *Chapters on understanding and addressing divorcing partners' anger and grief. *Treatment manual chapters have been extensively revised. *Incorporates the author's 12-year follow-up study.

Most people modify their ways of speaking, writing, texting, and e-mailing, and so on, according to the people with whom they are communicating. This fascinating book asks why we 'accommodate' to others in this way, and explores the various social consequences arising from it. Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), revised and elaborated over the past 40 years, has been applied to a wide range of situations, from families to courtrooms, and from media to hospitals, by means of diverse methodologies in many disciplines, and across numerous languages and cultures. Bringing together a team of experts, this book demonstrates how the theory can help us towards a greater understanding of interpersonal communication in a multitude of contexts. Finally, it examines the principles of the theory, identifying a range of avenues along which research can move forward in future.

Women’s Conflicts About Eating and Sexuality explores the strong relationships food and sex have represented to women over the years. No other book has spelled out so clearly the parallels between sex and eating nor integrated the relationship of these to women’s basic need to be loved.

A counselor and nurse specializing in polyamorous singles, couples and groupings, Kathy Labriola has spent many years helping people to understand and manage their jealousy. This book is a compendium of the techniques and exercises she has developed, as well as tips and insights from the polyamory community's top educators, therapists and authors. These accessible, simple techniques are designed to be easily implemented in the event of an intense jealousy crisis. They are even more useful if undertaken over a period of time before a jealousy crisis happens, to build a skill set that will be at hand to help managing jealousy when and if it does occur.

On July 9-10, 2014, the Institute of Medicine's Food Forum hosted a public workshop to explore emerging and rapidly developing research on relationships among the brain, the digestive system, and eating behavior. Drawing on expertise from the fields of nutrition and food science, animal and human physiology and behavior, and psychology and psychiatry as well as related fields, the purpose of the workshop was to (1) review current knowledge on the relationship between the brain and eating behavior, explore the interaction between the brain and the digestive system, and consider what is known about the brain's role in eating patterns and consumer choice; (2) evaluate current methods used to determine the impact of food on brain activity and eating behavior; and (3) identify gaps in knowledge and articulate a theoretical framework for future research. Relationships among the Brain, the Digestive System, and Eating Behavior summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.