Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

I highly recommend this book. I have recommended it to several people and it has worked for them as well. I am using the techniques in the book, and to my amazement, they are working! I have read several other books and they tell you what to do, but don't tell you what to do if their idea doesn't work - this book has back up plans for everything. I found this book to be the best help we have found. If you follow the program, it will work. I was skeptical but they made a believer out of me.

If you want a tool belt that works this is the book for you. Dr. Sells provides a step-by-step approach to every possible problem you might encounter and what to do if Plan A doesn't work. He gives you a recipe menu of creative consequences to stop behaviors such as disrespect, running away, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, threats of suicide, and ditching school. The one reviewer who didn't like the book (dirtyh20sam) must have ignored Dr. Sells' warning that if you try to use contracts and it escalates your teen it means that you must seek and outside therapist for help because you either did not follow all the steps correctly or you have underlying family problems like marital conflict or depression that must be addressed. The book works but you have to follow the recommendations correctly.

Perhaps this book should have been titled, "Parenting your extremely disrespectful teen".

I read the first couple of chapters of this book with some hope that the author understood the deep frustration that parents of a wild teen are going through. While I still feel that to be true, the author continually addresses such "out of control" behaviors as "swearing" and "refusing to clean his room". If only those were the problems we were facing in our home!

I searched the book for the two primary problems which we are facing, which are lying and promiscuity. Sadly, the author does not address these two subjects in any detail. In short, he gives no strategies whatsoever to deal with those problems. If your teen is TRULY out of control, you may want to get this book from the library first and see if the issues you are facing are addressed before spending any money.

I am a family therapist in Georgia. I give this book out to every family that comes into my office. This isn't about blaming parents. These are real tools parents can really use. I am also a parent of two teens. These tools have worked for me.

This is a great book, filled with common sense - something that seems to be lacking in today's world. I liked that the author utilized not only years of professional practice but actual parent surveys to come to his conclusions. If you are looking for practical, easy to understand advice on methods of dealing with teens or even younger children, then I recommend this book.

My suggestion to all parents I work with is always to read as wide a variety of books as possible - and this is one I reccommend. Scott Sells works from the premise that teens are happier when they know the boundaries. This is true however I would like to suggest that this is balanced with a parenting approach based on unconditional love Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reasonand that when this is the basis you are working from your teen is less likely to become uncontrollable.
One of the most important details relating to Sells' book is that it generally relates to teens that have no underlying causes to their behaviors.
Most Teens I work with have suffered abondonment, neglect, adverse effects of broken families, a lack of responsible adult role models of both sexes. When an adolescent is suffering in some way or has experienced trauma the way the tend to communicate is via acting out. It is important at these times to distinguish this behavior as a plea for help! It is often preferable to involve a professional as you are not just dealing with behaviors but underlying problems which must be resolved.
Remember your teen is not their behavior. Love them unconditionally and use the whole range of resources: books, family, counsellors, doctors, community to assist them to grow up to be happy, healthy, responsible adults!

This book addresses all of the major problems that can happen with teens. I really liked the concrete examples of how to put these ideas into practice. Real-life examples also helped make the material more accessible.