A Book Review of Raising the Challenging Child | A Resource for Minimizing Meltdowns, Reducing Conflict and Increasing Cooperation in Your Child
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell at Baker Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts below are my own. Also, this blog post includes affiliate links which means I will receive a commission based on sales generated via these links.
What's the worst you've ever faced as a parent? An all-out tantrum at the mall? A son who won't take out his earbuds to listen to you? A daughter who's failing at school and won't do her homework? A teen who constantly breaks curfew? A call from the police?
Whatever you're dealing with, Raising the Challenging Child will help.
Building on their work at Chaddock, a nonprofit organization that has worked with some of the most challenging kids in the nation for more than 150 years, the authors empower frustrated parents with practical tips and real-life examples on how to
· minimize behavioral meltdowns
· reduce conflict
· increase cooperation
· promote healthy attachment
· improve family relationships
The strategies they share work both for the child going through a difficult phase brought on by life disruption or trauma and for the child facing chronic struggles. Parents, teachers, and those who work with children and youth will find positive, practical steps they can start taking today in order to understand and address the baffling behavior of the child under their care.
★★★★★ | I chose this book to read and review because as newly licensed foster parents, I thought this would perhaps provide us with some insight on parenting children who’ve faced trauma, changes and challenges in their young lives. Upon reading this new, nonfiction release from Revell, I was delighted to find a valuable resource with practical tips, tried and proven methods, and easy to apply techniques for any parent, teacher, resource worker or caregiver!
This book was easy to read, well planned and simple to reference at a moment’s notice. As a reader, and parent, I enjoyed the real-life illustrations that were used as well as the highlighted tips and “Try This” segments. The insights from Chaddock staff (the resource center for children which the authors are affiliated) and parents are also thought provoking and helpful.
I recommend this book to caregivers of any child or teen, even the most complacent, well disciplined child or teenager. Raising the Challenging Child can act as a guide; a well-planned resource offering advice that encourages caregivers to not only to be well intentioned in their thoughts and actions, but also proactive. By simply learning not to react to situations and emotions a child may present, a caregiver can choose to use positive, relationship building language and actions to steer their child to proper behavior. In the premise of this book, the authors encourage caregivers to invest into the “relationship bank” with their child(ren) and offered ways to do so as well as avoid ways to deplete that “bank” by using negative responses and instructions. This concept is profitable in creating a spirit of connection and understanding with your child or teen. This book is less about disciplining a child and more about cultivating a strong, respectful bond with your child while utilizing tools and techniques that build and strengthen a child’s behavior and character. I believe any parent will find this resource useful and be able to apply some, or all, of the techniques mentioned to their own situations. This book may also be especially useful to foster and adoptive parents, single or divorced parents and parents of the strong willed child.
About the Authors:
Karen Doyle Buckwalter, MSW, LCSW, is director of program strategy at Chaddock in Quincy, Illinois. She serves on the board of directors' advisory board of the Theraplay® Institute in Chicago and has trained and consulted at family behavioral health organizations and youth foster care centers in the US, the UK, Australia, Denmark, and beyond. In addition to her degrees, Karen completed a two-year marriage and family therapy training program and 500-plus hours in diverse modalities, including Theraplay, Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) ®, and other attachment, trauma, and developmental approaches. Karen also hosts a weekly podcast, Attachment Theory in Action.
Debbie Reed is president and CEO of Chaddock. Currently engaged in doctoral studies, she has also played a leadership role in child- and family-serving organizations at the state and national levels, including the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services' Child Welfare Advisory Committee, the CEO council of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, and the national board of the United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries. In addition, she trains and consults with organizations on topics related to nonprofit leadership. Debbie also writes a weekly leadership blog, Reed About Leadership.
Wendy Lyons Sunshine is an award-winning writer and journalist. She is coauthor of The Connected Child.
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Raising the Challenging Child: How to Minimize Meltdowns, Reduce Conflict, and Increase Cooperation By Karen Doyle Buckwalter, Debbie Reed & Wendy Lyons Sunshine / Revell |
