Parenting Toward Solutions: How Parents Can Use Skills They Already Have to Raise Responsible, Loving Kids [Paperback]

Linda Metcalf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1996

This resource aims to help parents find the abilities they need to change the relationship with their children, and empower them to solve their own problems. Based on Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, a counselling model that focuses on times when a specific problem does not occur instead of why it happens, the book invites parents to discover when they have solved other problems in the workplace, in friendships, and elsewhere outside the home. It then shows parents how to apply their solutions to the situation of concern in the home.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this guide to working through some of the common problems that crop up in raising a family, Metcalf, an experienced family therapist, suggests that understanding the reasons for a behavior doesn't always change it. Focusing on solutions, she offers parents ways of changing their children's destructive behaviors by using the skills they have already learned, especially from the workplace. While children, of course, aren't expected to behave like corporate employees, Metcalf makes her points forcefully, putting forth extremely specific strategies and goals, illustrated with sample dialogues and case studies. Readers who aren't put off by the author's stilted prose and somewhat monotonously earnest tone will likely find useful observations and approaches here. Metcalf shows readers how to keep the child's problem from overshadowing the whole child and how to define it as something that can be solved. She offers techniques for improving communication with teenagers and helping younger children overcome specific anxieties. Strategies for handling more serious challenges, such as attention deficit disorder, depression and anger, are also provided, along with information on dealing with school conflicts from kindergarten on. Tips on talking to kids about grief and loss, sex and drugs are also provided; exercises and worksheets are included throughout the volume.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Metcalf's premise is that parents need to use their own abilities to deal with problems of children and teens. Much of that premise rests on avoiding comparisons with other kids and focusing on the positives, not the negatives. To help find the why in kids' behavior, she uses a genogram technique, in which parents formulate a family tree with names, characteristics, skills, and descriptions of each family member. A helpful chapter about school situations includes lots of sample forms (solution-focused individual educational plans, teacher observation sheets) and ideas on good conversations with adolescents in crisis. All in all, this approach encourages parents to quit looking for solutions handed to them and to begin relying instead on their own personal resources. Metcalf, a former teacher, is a family therapist in Arlington, Texas. Recommended for public libraries.?Linda Beck, Indian Valley P.L., Telford, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Trade (November 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0132696142
• ISBN-13: 978-0132696142
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,402,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Linda Metcalf, Ph.D., is a former Classroom Teacher, Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She is the author of ten books on solution focused therapy. Her research interests include relationship building between teacher and student, the use of solution focused therapy in regard to special education referrals, sexual abuse and addictions. Dr. Metcalf has presented her work extensively throughout the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Norway, Germany, and UK. She is a Professor in the Department of Education at Texas Wesleyan University, and Coordinator of the School Counseling Program. She is also the President of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderful book for parents., November 29, 2001

By 

jack nowicki (Austin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parenting Toward Solutions: How Parents Can Use Skills They Already Have to Raise Responsible, Loving Kids (Hardcover)

Within the strengths-based approach to working with people we have understood that the most important factor in client change is the client and what they bring to counseling. This book is for them. Linda writes in a clear and concise way about hundreds of ways parents can use their own resources to positively impact their relationship with their children. As in her earlier books for teachers, she includes sample certificates and forms that parents can use to focus and document their progress. This book is a great resource for parents who want to stay positively involved with their children's growth and development. I highly recommend it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Parenting Toward Solutions, March 20, 2009

By 

S. J. Smith "careful shopper" (Willimantic, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Parenting Toward Solutions: How Parents Can Use Skills They Already Have to Raise Responsible, Loving Kids (Paperback)

This is an excellent resource for parents. I have bought several copies for my therapy practice. The original version for counselors in a spiral-ring binder was easier to use as a workbook and to photocopy worksheets, etc. The quality of this publication (binding, etc.) is my only complaint.