Family Psychology

Just as you prepared your home to welcome a new child, it is important to prepare your heart and mind - especially if the child has suffered from a background of trauma. Perhaps your invitation for love is met with hostility and you find that this new member of your family rejects connection. It’s critical to acknowledge the effects of trauma on a child’s ability to attach. Mike and Kristin Berry realized this when they became adoptive and foster parents. They now offer guidance from their own journey to others parenting a child who has experienced past trauma.

Should you really read to your baby? Can teaching a baby sign language boost IQ? Should you pipe classical music into the nursery? Dr. Jill Stamm translates the latest neuroscience findings into clear explanations and practical suggestions, demonstrating the importance of the simple ways you interact with your child every day. It isn't the right edutainment that nurtures an infant's brain. It is as simple as attention, bonding, and communication, and it's within every parent's ability to provide.

Child psychiatrist and NAMI’s Associate Medical Director Dr. Christine M. Crawford provides a compassionate and practical resource for anyone concerned about a child’s mental health. Drawing on her own clinical experience and guidance from leading experts, Dr. Crawford provides a lens through which to understand the many complex factors affecting children’s mental health. Analyzing young people from preschool to high school, she shares insights into how mental health conditions may manifest at different ages, what kind of interventions may be necessary, and what to do to help kids thrive.

Your past holds power over your present. Childhood experiences shape your beliefs, actions, and relationships more than you realize. Do you struggle with self-doubt, insecurity, or uncontrollable emotions? These are echoes of unresolved childhood trauma, staining your adult life like unseen residue on a canvas. But there's hope. This book offers a compassionate approach to healing your inner child while equipping you with practical tools for emotional growth.

At its heart, polyvagal theory describes how the brain's unconscious sense of safety or danger impacts our emotions and behaviors. In this powerful book, pediatrician and neonatologist Marilyn R. Sanders and child psychiatrist George S. Thompson offer both a meditation on caregiving and a call to action. By attending to the lessons of polyvagal theory—that adult caregivers must be aware of children's unconscious processing of sensory information—the authors show how professionals can play a critical role in establishing a sense of safety even in the face of dangerous situations.

Based on research from more than 10,000 surveys from children and parents of divorce, Collateral Damage presents parents with an overview of the impact that divorce has on their children and offers ways to better serve their needs at this critical time.

In this wise and insightful audiobook, psychologist Michael Thompson, PhD, and children's book author Catherine O'Neill Grace illuminate the crucial and often hidden role that friendship plays in the lives of children from birth through adolescence. Best Friends, Worst Enemies brings to life the drama of childhood relationships, guiding parents to a deeper understanding of the motives and meanings of social behavior.

Lying is a healthy and inevitable part of child development. But when do lies become a problem? In this book, psychologist Victoria Talwar, director of the Talwar Child Development Lab at McGill University, presents practical science-based strategies to address lying and foster truthfulness in children, from early childhood to the teenage years. Backed by years of psychological research, this common-sense, practical guide reveals which parenting strategies promote truthfulness in children—and which ones don't.

Don’t become the one thing you hate the most...“You could’ve done better. Why can’t you be more like your sibling”? “Stop overreacting. You’re always so sensitive”. “Why are you always so angry with me? We need to get you help”. “This is for your own good”. These are all common phrases you may hear from your mother. Guess what? She is likely to be a narcissist. All it takes is an understanding of your situation and the proper guidance to help move you down the path to recovery.

Cada vez más, los niños de 3 a 10 años luchan contra la ansiedad, la depresión y los problemas de salud mental. Estos pueden ser provocados por muchos factores (estrés en el hogar, cambios en la sociedad, interrupciones en la rutina, aislamiento de los amigos, intimidación o presión social) y, si no se abordan, siguen a los niños hasta la adolescencia y la edad adulta, lo que les provoca trastornos mentales y emocionales, y problemas relacionales que les robarán la paz y la alegría.

You’ve taken the first step into the beautiful and creative life of the highly sensitive child. And now, we can help make this world a more compassionate and caring place together. Parenting a highly sensitive child is a gift: We get to experience their journey of growth and help shape their future. But parenting a highly sensitive child presents special challenges that require special awareness. Highly sensitive children need understanding, validation, and our support as positive role models to learn how to use their unique gifts in a world that doesn’t always understand them.

This book provides a much-needed resource for family and friends of the more than five million American adults suffering from bipolar disorder. From psychotic behavior that requires medication to milder mood swings with disturbing ups and down, this book offers a warm and often humorous user-friend guide for coping with bipolar loved ones, colleagues, and friends.

Do you have a child with oppositional defiant disorder and have no idea how to deal with him or her? Do your child’s defiance and aggression exhaust you and make you angry or worried? If so, this is the audiobook for you.

When Hope Edelman finished writing Motherless Daughters, she thought she had said all she could about the long-term effects of early mother loss. Published in 1994, the book touched a nerve in women across the country and went on to become an enduring New York Times best seller. Edelman, who was 17 when her own mother died, told the collective story of mother loss with such candor, empathy, and informed wisdom that she quickly became a widely recognized expert on the topic.

Studies show that the more you yell at your children, the worse their behavior will become. It’s a dreadful cycle that causes stress for parents and less effort from children. However, you have the power to break it once and for all! Not only is the adolescence phase challenging for a parent, but it is just as frustrating for teenagers. Through this informative guide, you’ll be empowered with crucial information that will give you the ability to be calm, no matter the situation.

In Parenting ADHD Now!, Diane and Elaine combine their practical know-how and professional expertise to offer immediate, actionable strategies you can use to guide and support your ADHD child compassionately and effectively.

Disrupt family patterns and heal from inherited trauma with this powerful guide, so you can break the cycle of silence for generations to come. Filled with stories, research, practical tools, and exercises, the book helps listeners understand how their family history impacts their lives and begin to open conversations that can heal.

Parents, educators, and the media wring their hands about the plight of America's children and teens - soaring rates of emotional problems, limited coping skills, disengagement from learning - and yet there are ways to reverse these disheartening trends. Teach Your Children Well acknowledges that every parent wants successful children. However, until we are clearer about our core values and the parenting choices that are most likely to lead to authentic, and not superficial, success, we will continue to raise exhausted, externally driven, impaired children.

Kids are coming out as trans at younger and younger ages, which is a good thing for them. But what written resources are available to parents, teachers, and mental health professionals who need to support these children? Elijah C. Nealy, a therapist and former deputy executive director of New York City’s LGBT Community Center, and himself a trans man, has written the first-ever comprehensive guide to understanding, supporting, and welcoming trans kids, covering everything from family life to school and mental health issues, as well as much more.

Most kids get their first smartphone at the same time that they're experiencing major developmental changes. Making mistakes has always been a part of growing up, but how do parents help their kids navigate childhood and adolescence at a time when social media has the potential to magnify the consequences of those mistakes? Rather than spend all their time worrying about the worst-case scenario, listeners get a bigger-picture understanding of their kids' digital landscape.