Survival Strategies for Parenting Your ADD Child: Dealing with Obsessions, Compulsions, Depression, Explosive Behavior, and Rage [Paperback]

George T. Lynn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 1996

Children with ADD can have severe and very challenging behavioral problems. Research has shown that some children are "born" difficult to parent. These kids may be unmanageable, have no friends, be full of rage, or take dangerous or destructive risks. They may carry any number of psychiatric labels: "ADD, " "ADHD, " "Tourette Syndrome, " "Obsessive Compulsive, " or "Depressed" and their extremely stressful behavior can destroy family unity.

In our society these children are frequently medicated or placed in mental hospitals. But this doesn't have to happen. Author and therapist George Lynn works with "difficult" kids in his practice and he has addressed these problems on "National Public Radio." Writing from his experience as both a parent and a counselor, he provides parents with methods which can heal the fractures and pain that occur in families with these problems. He believes these "troubled" children are invariably gifted in unusual ways.

George Lynn describes six essential strategies parents can use to deal with their own distress and rage as a result of a child's provocation. He also addresses the problems confronting single parents with ADD children.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

This book comes out of my life. My son Gregory is now 13 years old. Though already well trained as a psychotherapist I was not prepared when his neurologic-based misery emerged nine years ago. I had already raised two daughters and was a successful family therapist at the time.

Suddenly I found myself faced with the immensity of Gregory's problems -- his night terrors, obsessionality, rage, and powerful hyperactivity -- that I felt helpless to prevent. As I turned my personal interest and professional focus toward kids like Gregory, I discovered that I was not helpless. I learned to listen and look closely to what was happening and began to see the patterns formed by stress, brain chemistry, and social experience and what could be done.

This book is the product of my journey down this path. It is the chronicle of the wisdom of my clients' struggles and my own learning. It is the acknowledgment that more than excellent, loving parenting is needed to bring up some kids. It is a survival manual for parenting and parent self-care. It is a book that I would have liked to have found years ago when Gregory was first facing the challenges of his neurobiology that could have given me some answers about what we needed to do to take care of ourselves and Gregory so that he could grow up to fully realize his gifts and life joys.

About the Author

George Lynn, M.A., C.M.H.C. is a Washington State Certified Mental Health Counselor with a practice located in Bellevue, Washington. He holds Masters Degrees in Psychology from Antioch University and in Public Administration from the University of Colorado. He has worked in the counseling field in Washington since 1979. He taught coursework at the graduate level in individual and organizational psychology at the University of Puget Sound, Antioch University, and Chapman College.

George's specialties include stress management, relationship counseling, and the parenting of children diagnosed as Hyperactive/Attention Deficit, Tourette Syndrome, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. In his work, George helps his clients affirm aspects of personal strength and character to manage crises and achieve purposeful, enjoyable lives.

He is husband of poet Joanne Barrie Lynn and father of two grown daughters and a 13-year-old son, Gregory, who has been diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome and ADHD. Gregory's struggle for healing and understanding has been featured on the Seattle Times, The Family Therapy Networker and Hope Magazine.

George may be contacted by email at [e-mail].

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Underwood Books; 1 edition (September 24, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887424199
• ISBN-13: 978-1887424196
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #727,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most sensible book on RAGE that I've read., June 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Survival Strategies for Parenting Your ADD Child: Dealing with Obsessions, Compulsions, Depression, Explosive Behavior, and Rage (Paperback)

My son, who is 13, was diagnosed with ADD, ODD, OCD, and depression about 4 years ago. As a result, I've collected a library of books on each subject. This is the first book that not only mentions all of the above, but actually shows how they are related, and how to effectively deal with the everyday problems of these disorders. This is the first book that I've read that deals with the grief that parents feel. Books like this one will make it easier for the next parent who finds himself at a loss to explain his childs behavior.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for parents who are at their 'whits end'., December 1, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Survival Strategies for Parenting Your ADD Child: Dealing with Obsessions, Compulsions, Depression, Explosive Behavior, and Rage (Paperback)

"Survival Strategies for Parenting Your ADD child: Dealing with Obsessions, Compulsions, Depression, Explosive Behavior & Rage" by George T. Lynn, M.A., C.M.H.C. George Lynn is a Certified Mental Health Counselor in Bellevue, Washington, and parent of a child with Tourette Syndrome and ADD. Don't let the title fool you; this book isn't exclusive to severe ADD. If you're a parent of a child with Tourette Syndrome or Bipolar Mood Disorder, you've come to the right place. Are you looking for strategies for dealing with a myriad of behaviors like obsessions, compulsions, and explosive behavior? Welcome home. In "Survival Strategies" you'll find information to help you unravel the complexities of how these children feel and think, including numerous tips, diagrams and charts to help you get out of the loop and into the problem-solving mode. Though Mr. Lynn is a counselor, you won't find "disorder" or "pathological" expertise. Lynn gives the reader solid reasons for celebrating the precious gifts these children have, while strengthening and empowering the family. Children with these attention different diagnoses are not easy to live with, and he doesn't view them as "problem" kids, but uniquely different. George Lynn takes you into their world to see the "why" of their behavior, instead of medicating the answer away. As a result, he uses attention difference (A.D.), instead of "disorder," defines common stressors, skips over medication and leads us to practical problem-solving techniques. Astonishing in his depth and compassion, Lynn, married with a pre-teen child diagnosed with ADHD and Tourettes, shares his family's experiences openly and honestly. In seventeen chapters divided into three parts, the introduction acquaints us with a mother who describes all people as being plants in a garden, each with different needs. In accordance, Lynn chooses the word "Eustress" as his premise. Eustress, a word coined by stress researcher Dr. Has Selye, means "good" in Latin. In other words, we can lie down, curl up our toes and let stress overcome us, or we can look squarely at our children, count their strengths and resources, and meet the challenge head-on in a positive way (Eustress). Part I, Understand the Nature of the Challenge, shows how your child views his world and the resulting pressures, describes how you can help him and shares ways you can help yourself in order to help him. Part II, Strategies for Successful Management of Individual Problems, relates methods that help children manage their own attention differences. Among the behaviors Lynn covers are oppositionality, emotional wildness, dangerous behavior and obsessions. Part III, Strategies for Changing Family Distress Cycles to Family Eustress Cycles, discusses family patterns and how to change them. He has chapters on grief, single parenting and blended families. Chapter fifteen, one of his largest chapters, deals with a major stressor universal among special needs families: school. For readers interested in a diet/behavior relationship to attention differences, George Lynn includes an interesting article in the Appendix, "Nutritional Alternatives to Ritalin - Treating the Causes as Well as the Symptoms" by Walter J. Crinnion, N.D., an authority in environmental toxicity. At the conclusion, the author returns us to the mother and her garden metaphor: "You and I are the ones who parent the strangest little plants in the garden. Culture would make all children corn stalks in a row, but some plants are hardier than this and have a job to do on the windswept outskirts of the garden. This is where our kids live. Those who enjoy the symmetry of corn fields define our kids are "weird" and we all know what that label means: dysfunctional, crazy, repugnant, different. "But strong cross-cultural wisdom argues the opposite view: that our A.D. children are a precious resource, an enormous cultural asset... "It makes sense that at this time in our evolution when all the conventional answers seem to be failing that we would see the emergence of so many Attention Different kids with their strange abilities and excesses of character. Just as A.D. kids have "little anarchist" temperament challenges, they also possess rare gifts in their weirdness - we need them as a culture to renew ourselves and avoid stagnation." The old methods of "behavior modification" may work for the plants sitting row-by-row in the middle of the cornfield. But families like ours are searching for new and innovative ways to deal with our "weird" children. First, however, we have to redefine the behaviors, and the only way to do that is to see things the way our children see things. This requires a radical paradigm shift. George Lynn gives us this shift, step-by-step. "Survival Strategies" will grab your attention and endure as a reference book when you've reached your "Wits End." Janie Bowman [e-mail] Ms. Bowman is a writer and parent of two children with ADD. This review was originally written for the ADD Forum on CompuServe.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Parents, you can do it!, March 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Survival Strategies for Parenting Your ADD Child: Dealing with Obsessions, Compulsions, Depression, Explosive Behavior, and Rage (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book that can literally change the lives of despairing parents of children with attention problems. It doesn't just present coping strategies, it addresses the heart of the problems by exploring two main questions: how can parents move from seeing their child as an terrible trial to seeing him/her as a challenge that can be met? And how do they move from seeing only the child's behavior to understanding what's going on inside? After these two central underlying issues are addressed, parents can move on to strategies to help their child learn new behaviors, such as identifying when stresses are building, practicing relaxation and focusing techniques, and finding satisfying activities. The book also helps parents understand the strains on their marriage and their other children, and find ways to regain some peace and pleasure. I came away from this book feeling more equipped to be an appropriate teacher for my child, helping her to identify and meet her own needs, rather than another adult voice telling her to "behave properly." The book could use a little editing, but the ideas and strategies can help any parent move from feeling helpless and desperate to feeling capable of supporting, loving, and helping their child.