Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager: 7 Steps to Reestablish Authority and Reclaim Love [Paperback]

Scott P. Sells (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 2002

Every teenager rebels against authority at some point--talks back, breaks curfew, or disobeys. But literally millions of teens take their rebellion to a point where it disrupts their families and endangers their own futures or even their lives. If one of these teens is yours, you've probably lived through years of conflicting advice and pat solutions that don't last. Finally, this breakthrough guide from a master therapist will show you the seven steps to positive, permanent change for you and your teenager:

1. Learn the real reasons for teen misbehavior.
2. Make an ironclad contract to stop that behavior.
3. Troubleshoot future problems.
4. End button-pushing.
5. Stop the "seven aces" -- from disrespect to threats of violence.
6. Mobilize outside help.
7. Reclaim lost love within the family.

Clear, compassionate, and packed with real-life solutions to real-life problems, this book gives parents the tools they need to turn their families' lives around for good.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For all parents who want good, immediately applicable ideas that are effective with acting-out teenagers, this is the book for you!"
--John Gray, Ph.D., author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus and Children Are from Heaven

"An excellent combination of research and practice-with a difficult population! Good practical ideas that help parents answer hard questions."
--Thomas W. Phelan, Ph.D., author of 1-2-3 Magic and Surviving Your Adolescents

"Parents of problematic teens will find Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager to be an easy-to-read book filled with practical solutions for difficult problems."
--Rex Forehand, Ph.D., author of Parenting the Strong-Willed Child

"A standout among the multitude of parenting books. Dr. Sells has a rare combination of practical experience coupled with an academician's need for researched and effective answers for responding to very difficult teens. For all those parents who want good, immediately applicable ideas that are effective with a severely acting-out adolescent, I can say, without reservations, this is the book for you!"
--Foster W. Cline, M.D., author of Parenting with Love and Logic

"Sells' approach is all 'how-to': he provides seven basic steps, backed up with lists of strategies in the 'What do I do if...' mode. These steps will empower parents to regain authority, bring families out of deep trouble, and begin to restore the love parents and teens once held for each other."
--Library Journal

"I found Scott Sells' new book to be amazingly helpful. He really does go to exactly those most difficult places where teenagers step over the line, and where there seem to be few effective answers. Dr. Sells gives answers, they are very specific, and they are vry practical - real-world answers for real parents and real teenagers."
--Anthony E. Wolf, Ph.D., author of Get Out of My Life, but First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall?

About the Author

Scott P. Sells, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Savannah State University and the executive director of the Savannah Family Institute in Georgia. Over the past fourteen years, Dr. Sells has personally treated more than three hundred difficult children and has served as a consultant for the Department of Juvenile Justice. In addition, he has spent the past three years conducting seminars in which he has spoken to over four thousand professional counselors and parents about the material found in his book Treating the Tough Adolescent: A Family-Based, Step-by-Step Guide. This work is detailed on the author's Web site, www.difficult.net. Dr. Sells has recently launched a three-week parenting education program, "Parenting the Out-of-Control Teenager," for parents and their teenagers, and he is currently in the process of developing parent support groups and counselor certification training throughout the country.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (October 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312303017
• ISBN-13: 978-0312303013
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On the money, October 12, 2004

By 

Amy Leone (PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager: 7 Steps to Reestablish Authority and Reclaim Love (Paperback)

Your teen is living in a storm of hormones and temptations. You have to be the rock in the storm. I have read all the popular books on problem teens and this one is the best by far. His advice on how to handle the seven aces is practical and works! It was my favorite part as previously I had no idea what to do.

I did not do the contract. I made a list of rules and consequences if the rules were broken. Re other reviews, I don't think there is anything Gestapo-like about laying down some rules. You aren't going to live in harmony with anyone who thinks that friendships and immediate gratification are more important than family and school.

My advice is, take the bull by the horns and buy this book.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book On This Topic, August 26, 2005

By 

Dr. Susan Southworth (Kearney, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager: 7 Steps to Reestablish Authority and Reclaim Love (Paperback)

I have used this book and Dr. Sells suggestions with parents for five years. This book explains how problems develop with teens, practical suggestions on how to stop the problems and the book also covers the topic on how to heal and improve the relationships between parents and teens that are out of control. Parents: It is best to read the entire book before you start enforcing contracts with the teens.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is hope!, July 12, 2002

By 

zanman (santee, ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager: 7 Steps to Reestablish Authority and Reclaim Love (Hardcover)

This book is a life saver. My husband and I were seriously thinking of sending our teenager to a behavior camp because we thought there wasn't anything left that we could do for our son then I found this book. If you want to really make some changes in your household without sending your child away this is the book to read. It's hard work but desperate times call for desperate measures!