Respected psychologist Dr. Brad Sachs helps parents to recognize their unrealistic expectations for their teenagers and to love, accept and nurture the family they have to its full potential. His approach frees them to discover acceptance of themselves and of their children.
The ages twelve to eighteen are often the most challenging and trying years for adolescents––and their parents. No other phase of life is characterized by so much physical and psychological change happening so quickly. And frequently the child parents had loved and understood becomes a teenager they hardly recognize––the child who loved music grows into a teen who wants to play video games rather than the piano; or the little girl who loved dolls becomes a teen who loves staying out with her older, rebellious boyfriend. The Good Enough Teen, however, shows you how to see your child's evolution as a window of opportunity––for you, for your child, and for your entire family. Rather than having you brace for your offspring's adolescence with your eyes shut and your jaw clenched, this book will help you to understand the invisible transformation teens are experiencing, as well as the ways in which your own adolescence intimately influences this understanding. You will find yourself better able to see even your child's most exasperating behaviours as steps in his or her striving towards maturity, rather than chronic problems or mean–spirited efforts designed to make you miserable.
The Good Enough Teen presents a developmental overview of what parents can expect from their children during adolescence, then delineates the five stages in the journey towards accepting a child for who he or she is. With prescriptive tools and strategies for parents, including checklists, quizzes, and exercises, and numerous case studies from the author's own practice, The Good Enough Teen is vital help for any parent with a teenager.
“Subtract $13.95 from...your 12-year-old’s college savings account this year and apply it instead to this book.” (Cleveland Plain Dealer )
About the Author
Brad Sachs, Ph. D., is a family psychologist and the author of Things Just Haven't Been the Same: Making the Transition from Marriage to Parenthood. He is the founder and director of the Father Center and has written for numerous periodicals. He is married to Karen Meckler, a pychiatrist and acupuncturist, and together they raise their three children, Josh, Matt, and Jess, in Columbia, Maryland.
Product Details
Paperback: 330 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (January 4, 2005)
Dr. Brad Sachs is a psychologist, speaker, educator and best-selling author specializing in clinical work with children, adolescents, couples, and families, in Columbia, Maryland, and the Founder and Director of The Father Center, a program designed to meet the needs of new, expectant, and experienced fathers.
His forthcoming book is entitled EMPTYING THE NEST: LAUNCHING YOUNG ADULTS TOWARDS SUCCESS AND SELF-RELIANCE (Macmillan/St. Martin's, July, 2010).
His most recent book, WHEN NO ONE UNDERSTANDS: LETTERS TO A TEENAGER ON LIFE, LOSS, AND THE HARD ROAD TO ADULTHOOD, was published in 2007, and is based on his between-sessions correspondence with a suicidal adolescent whom he was treating.
He is the author of numerous other books, including THE GOOD ENOUGH CHILD: HOW TO HAVE AN IMPERFECT FAMILY AND BE PERFECTLY SATISFIED (HarperCollins, 2001), which was named as an Editor's Choice by Amazon.com and became its best-selling parenting title that year. It was featured on NBC's The Today Show, and was excerpted in Family Circle Magazine.
He has also written THE GOOD ENOUGH TEEN: RAISING ADOLESCENTS WITH LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE (DESPITE HOW IMPOSSIBLE THEY CAN BE), (HarperCollins, 2005), and THINGS JUST HAVEN'T BEEN THE SAME: MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM MARRIAGE TO PARENTHOOD (William Morrow, 1992), which was named one of the Top Five Books for New Parents by Child Magazine. His books have been translated into numerous languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, German, and Danish.
Dr. Sachs regularly writes articles on family life for magazines such as Redbook, Parenting, Parents, Child, and American Baby, is renowned for his creative and innovative treatment of children and families, and has lectured and led seminars and workshops both nationally and internationally. He has been interviewed on over three hundred radio and television shows, including The Today Show, 20/20, The Montel Williams Show, The Sally Jesse Raphael Show, and The Diane Rehm Show.
His original poetry has been collected in IN THE DESPERATE KINGDOM OF LOVE: POEMS 2001-2004, (Chestnut Hills Press, 2005), BLIND DATE: POEMS OF EXPECTANT FATHERHOOD (Chestnut Hills Press), and the forthcoming WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS? : POEMS FROM PSYCHOTHERAPY.
Dr. Sachs is also a composer and performer, most recently releasing HARD TALES TO TELL, a cycle of sixteen original songs based on the stories his patients have told him. Other recording projects include OPENING DAY: SONGS OF EXPECTANT FATHERHOOD, LOVE SO HARD: SONGS OF MARRIAGE, and the soundtrack for the NPR series on minor league baseball, APPALACHIAN ALMANAC.
He is a graduate of Brown University, where he met his wife, Dr. Karen Meckler, a psychiatrist and medical acupuncturist, and together they raise their three teenaged children and two dogs in Columbia, Maryland.
This review is from: The Good Enough Teen: Raising Adolescents with Love and Acceptance (Despite How Impossible They Can Be) (Paperback)
This is a fabulous book that I happened upon and could not put down. It should be titled, "What to expect from your teens and yes, it is normal". I found this book a fabulous tool with which to measure my teens progress against those of other teens without compairing them to the unrealistic expectations of many driven parents in our society and to take a step back and recognize the tremendous accomplishments that they make every day through good choices and responsible behaviors despite the occasional misstep. Teenagers are growing as rapidly as toddlers and this is a how to manual for all parents.
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This review is from: The Good Enough Teen: Raising Adolescents with Love and Acceptance (Despite How Impossible They Can Be) (Paperback)
this book really helped me understand my teen better! The stories were at times directly or indirectly related to what my teen and I are going through. Definately helpful!
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This review is from: The Good Enough Teen: Raising Adolescents with Love and Acceptance (Despite How Impossible They Can Be) (Paperback)
oh man this book was worthless. I tried the stuff in this book and now my kids hate me and my wife thinks I'm an idiot. Try another book. This one has ruined my family life.
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