Main description:

Challenging kids don't behave badly on purpose -- they are simply struggling to "catch up" in key areas of psychological and cognitive development. If your child or teen's emotional or behavioral difficulties are getting in the way of success at home, at school, or in social situations, this is the book for you. Dr. Michael Bloomquist has spent decades helping parents to understand acting-out kids and support their healthy development. In these pages, he presents tried-and-true ways you can build your 5- to 17-year-old's skills to:

*Follow rules and behave honestly.
*Curb angry outbursts.
*Make and maintain friendships.
*Express feelings productively.
*Stay on task at school.
*Resolve conflicts with siblings.
*Manage stress.

Loads of checklists, worksheets, and troubleshooting tips help you select and implement the strategies that meet your child's specific needs. You'll also build your own skills for parenting effectively when the going gets tough. Systematic, compassionate, and practical, the book is grounded in state-of-the-art research. The road to positive changes for your child and family starts here.

Mental health professionals, see also the related title The Practitioner Guide to Skills Training for Struggling Kids.

Contents:

Introduction: How to Use This Book
Getting Started and Staying with It
1. The Struggling Child: Understanding Your Child's Behavioral-Emotional Problems
2. Getting Back on Track: Coming Up with a Skills-Building Plan for Your Child and Family
3. Taking Care of Business: Getting Going and Following Through
Enhancing Your Child's Behavioral Development
4. Doing What You're Told: Teaching Your Child to Comply with Parental Directives
5. Doing What's Expected: Teaching Your Child to Follow Rules
6. Doing the Right Thing: Teaching Your Child to Behave Honestly
7. Staying Cool under Fire: Managing Your Child's Protesting of Discipline and Preventing Angry Outbursts
Enhancing Your Child's Social Development
8. Making Friends: Teaching Your Child Social Behavior Skills
9. Keeping Friends: Teaching Your Child Social Problem-Solving Skills
10. That Hurts!: Helping Your Child with Bullies
11. Hanging with the "Right Crowd": Influencing Your Child's Peer Relationships
Enhancing Your Child's Emotional Development
12. Let It Out!: Teaching Your Child to Understand and Express Feelings
13. You Are What You Think: Teaching Your Child to Think Helpful Thoughts
14. Stress Busters: Teaching Your Child to Manage Stress
Enhancing Your Child's Academic Development
15. Surviving School: Teaching Your Child to Manage Time, Organize, Plan, Review, and Stay on Task
16. Teaming Up: Collaborating and Advocating for Your Child at School
Enhancing Your Well-Being as a Parent
17. You Parent the Way You Think: Thinking Helpful Thoughts to Enhance Parenting
18. Cool Parents: Managing Your Own Stress to Enhance Parenting
Enhancing Your Family's Well-Being
19. Let's Get Together: Strengthening Family Bonds and Organization
20. We Can Work It Out: Strengthening Family Interaction Skills
Resources