Parenting Without Power Struggles: Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids While Staying Cool, Calm, and Connected [Paperback]

Susan Stiffelman (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 13, 2012

Do you ever find yourself asking . . .

• How can you get your children to do their homework without meltdowns, threats or bribes?

• How can you have a drama-free morning where the kids actually get out the door in time for school?

• How can you better manage your kids’ screen time without making them want to hide what they’re doing from you?

Family therapist Susan Stiffelman is here to help. While most parenting programs are designed to coerce kids to change, Parenting Without Power Struggles does something innovative, showing you how to come alongside your children to awaken their natural instincts to cooperate, rather than at them with threats or bribes, which inevitably fuels their resistance. By staying calm and being the confident “Captain of the ship” your child needs, you will learn how to parent from a place of strong, durable connection, and you’ll be better able to help your kids navigate the challenging moments of growing up.

Drawing upon her successful practice and packed with real-life stories, Parenting Without Power Struggles is an extraordinary guidebook for transforming the day-to-day lives of busy parents—and the children they love.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Susan Stiffelman is full of heart and soul but firmly grounded in commonsense understanding.”

—John Gray, New York Times bestselling author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus

"Susan Stiffelman shows parents how to create healthy, loving relationships with children while helping them develop the resilience and authenticity that will serve them throughout their lives. Parenting Without Power Struggles is one of the best parenting books I have ever read." (Arianna Huffington)

"Full of wise insights and effective strategies, this book should be required reading for all parents." —Harville Hendrix, Ph.D., author of Giving the Love That Heals: A Guide for Parents

"If there was ever someone who could truly change the course of a family's life, it's Susan Stiffelman. Her effective methods are spelled out clearly in her wonderful book, making it easy to create a parent-child harmony at home." —Susan Avery, More magazine

“Conversational and practical… Stiffelman’s engaging work gives parents tools to navigate confidently in both calm and stormy family seas.” —Publishers Weekly

“Susan Stiffelman, who has double standing to give parenting advice, as a professional therapist and the mother of an exceptional son, has hit the nail on the head twice over…her book is filled with practical, real-world ways to minimize the fights and maximize the love.” (Kurt Andersen novelist and host of public radio's Studio 360)

Book Description

Imagine life without drama, meltdowns, and power struggles
From celebrity parents to everyday moms and pops, single parents to grandparents, most of us know what to do when our kids behave. But let's face it: family life can get downright crazy, and it's at those moments that we most need to keep our cool.
Family therapist Susan Stiffelman has shown thousands of parents how to be the cool, confident "Captain of the ship" in their children's lives. Based on her successful practice and packed with real-life stories, Susan shares proven strategies and crystal clear insights to motivate kids to cooperate and connect. Parenting without Power Struggles is an extraordinary guidebook for transforming your day-to-day parenting life.
You'll discover how to:
• Transform frustration and aggression into adaptation and cooperation
• Keep your cool when your kids push your buttons, talk back or refuse to "play nice"
• Nourish deep attachment with young and older kids
• Help your ADD'ish child survive and thrive, even if you’re ADD'ish yourself
• Inoculate your kids from negative thinking and peer pressure that lead to anger, anxiety, depression, or behavior issues
• Help children manage the emotional challenges of divorce

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books; Original edition (March 13, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451667663
• ISBN-13: 978-1451667660
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Stiffelman is a unique blend of licensed therapist, credentialed teacher, beloved auntie and down to earth mom. Her book, Parenting Without Power Struggles is based on her work with thousands of parents and children, from celebrities to everyday moms and pops.

In her book, Susan offers mainstream, rubber meets the road advice that has been thoroughly tested on kids of all ages and demographics. At the same time, her approach to raising kids falls into step with the understanding of people like Eckhart Tolle and Marianne Williamson who recognize that parenting is in its own way a spiritual journey.

She's an adventurer (she took her 15 year old son on a two and a half month trip to Uganda, Tanzania, Australia and New Zealand), a visionary (homeschooled him in his early years when it was considered rather "iffy") and is an outside-the-box thinker (taught herself Hindi as a teenager by calling people named "Singh" out of the phone book!) Diagnosed with the ADHD label, she manages to accomplish more in a week than many do in a month, while maintaining a regular meditation practice and spending serious amounts of time playing.

Susan divides her time between Malibu, California with her son (when he's home from college), her dog Rosie, and a full and grateful heart.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a parenting book that rises above the others! October 8, 2009

By Anna Anawalt

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've just read Susan Stiffelman's book, Parenting Without Power Struggles, and the title alone is enough to make a weary parent sigh. Finally, a book that resonates with my parenting instincts and offers concrete, do-able suggestions for accomplishing what sometimes seems to be the impossible: maintaining authority or as the author so lovingly calls it, being the 'captain of the ship,' while encouraging and deepening a loving bond between parent and child. How often have you walked away after yelling at your child out of sheer frustration and felt crummy, thinking 'this isn't right.' She addresses so many of our common areas of power struggle, like HOMEWORK. She also encourages us to 'celebrate our children' but not in a false manner that leaves them dependent and ill-equipped for the world. For busy parents, aren't we all, the book is laid out in short, easily readable chapters. A great place to start that will surely pique your interest are the Check Lists in the very back of the book, Checklist #1 and Checklist #2. Check it out!!!
Anna Anawalt, Los Angeles, Caliornia

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical, easy to implement & grounded -somewhere between old and new school parenting, just where I needed it to be August 31, 2010

By michelle carlson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

In the 6 years we have been parents, my husband has read 2 books, The Expectant Father and Parenting without Power Struggles. I have read more, which I'm sure is not uncommon. This book has made us better parents and has also made us better partners in parenting. Susan's methods are a mix of practical, developmentally appropriate approaches that are easy to implement in day to day situations. When one of us is struggling, we talk about the book to each other, and that helps us regain perspective. In some ways, Susan has become an absentee referee in our own parenting disagreements. He's more old-school, I'm more touchy-feely. This book met us in the middle. In some chapters she affirmed some things we were already doing and in others she gave us new perspective into what was really going on between us and the kids. I want to say that this book has some good old fashioned advice, but it's not old fashioned in it's presentation or reasoning. In our case, this book helped us as much with the power struggles between us as parents, as between us and the kids.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Book October 28, 2009

By Christine Steele

Format:Paperback

I have probably read 50 parenting books in my life and this is the best one ever. It is so well written, so right on topic. It is so easy to immediately transfer the info from this book into your day to day life with your kid. Loved it, loved it. Don't hesitate for a second to buy this one.