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

by Ron Taffel

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.

Genres: Psychology

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s some good things in this book but it felt like it was just a copy of his book about teens with some additional content concerning children and a few stories about counseling parents. It’s laid out much easier than his other book so it is actually more accesible. I just don’t know if it’s valuable to read multiple books by Taffel if he’s saying the exact same thing.

[Sarah Hubbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful for working with challenging families in the therapy room.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the appalling title, which I suspect was intended to appeal to practitioners who still view children in this way, this book actually holds a fairly respectful view of parents and children. It's a bit "techniquey" in parts - but mostly does a good job of focusing on understanding the underlying developmental, social, trauma and emotional needs underpinning children's and parent's behaviour. Well worth a look. It is in a similar ballpark to Signs of Safety: A Solution and Safety Oriented Approach to Child Protection Casework, but more therapeutically and classroom focused rather than social or case focussed.