Family First: Your Step-by-Step Plan for Creating a Phenomenal Family (Hardcover)

~ Dr. Phil McGraw (Author)
Key Phrases: phenomenal family, parenting with purpose, convenient child, Survey Fact, Parenting Through Change, Project Status (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Do you feel that your family is not what it used to be, or what it has the potential to be? Do you worry that the parenting decisions you're making today may be scarring your child for life? Do you sometimes feel you are in a tug-of-war with the world over who will shape your child's values and beliefs?

With Family First: Your Step-by-Step Plan for Creating a Phenomenal Family, Dr. Phil offers a new classic on family life -- and gives parents real answers and a plan for being the most positive and effective parents possible. Starting right now, you can begin to make realistic choices and take day-to-day actions that can make your family phenomenal. You must decide that you will lead your family with strength and love and that peace and joy are not just for the people next door or on TV. They're for your family.

In Family First, Dr. Phil gives it to parents straight: even in this fast-paced world your family should be the center of your life and your child's life. Parenting is the most important and noble act you will ever undertake, yet American families are threatened like never before from the inside as well as the outside -- many of us fight too much, don't get involved enough in our children's lives, or get bogged down in life's daily struggles instead of keeping our eye on the big picture of our family's well-being.

Dr. Phil has been working with families for over twenty-five years to help them repair the fissures that have fractured their home lives. In Family First, he provides a proven action plan to help parents determine the strengths and weaknesses of their parenting style. His 7 Tools for Purposeful Parenting cover the most important elements for any parent: parenting for success -- for the purpose of raising cooperative, caring, and competent children. Exercises, scripts, assessments, solutions for specific problems, and precise directions for implementing the steps you need to take are all included in this landmark work.

Dr. Phil shows parents how to make changes now -- how to put a stop to your children's tantrums; talk to them about peer pressure or self-esteem; instill values like integrity, honesty, and respect for other people; and bring order back to your house. If you want your child to have a happy, fulfilled life, you must open your eyes to the crucial role you play in his or her development.

Most important, Dr. Phil's new book offers you and your family hope -- for a phenomenal home life now, and a productive, fulfilling future for your children. As Dr. Phil says, you are not just raising children, you are also raising adults, and everything you do today impacts what kind of adult your child will become. You are building the future.

About the Author

Dr Phillip C. McGraw is best known to millions as 'Dr Tell It Like It Is' from OPRAH and as the author of the bestselling LIFE STRATEGIES and RELATIONSHIP RESCUE. He has trained thousands of people in effective life skills seminars and is one of the most sought-after public speakers. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 286 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; Large Print edition (September 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739447726
• ISBN-13: 978-0743264938
• ASIN: 0743264932
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #310,014 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Dr. Phil's "Family First", August 24, 2006

By	Warren T. Baldwin - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Family First: Your Step-by-Step Plan for Creating a Phenomenal Family (Paperback)

I checked out a copy of "Family First" from the public library. By the time I read a few chapters I returned the library's copy and bought my own. The chapter on "Parenting Style" is worth the price of the book, especially for the little test to determine if your style is authoritarian, equalitarian or permissive. Also helpful is the test to determine if your child is rebellious, cooperative or passive. It is important to know something of your own personality and your child's to determine how you (and your spouse) are going to teach and discipline. I teach "Marriage and Family" for a college and I will be incorporating these two tests in my curriculum.

Also, I really enjoyed the stories he told about family. One particularly moving story is when his dad would not let him drive one night because of bad weather. Even though Phil argued his case and lost, he says he is glad his dad didn't relent. His parents loved him enough to set up boundaries. They valued Phil's life more than they did his agreement on their decisions. His dad was decisive and strong and Phil respected that. Phil apologized to his friend for ruining the plans. His friend looked at him with tear filled eyes and said, "I wish my parents cared enough about me to tell me I couldn't go. They wouldn't care if I drove straight off a cliff."

Phil writes, "It struck me that though John had asked his parents for permission to go to the game, what he had really needed was for them to provide some boundaries and leadership." (Pp.157-58). Parents, even though discipline is sometimes difficult, it does communicate to our children that we care.

I like to use Dr. Phil's book in conjunction with Dr. James Dobson's "The New Strong-Willed Child" and "Parenting Isn't for Cowards" in parenting classes and situations that I teach. (See my reviews on the Dobson books). I recommend all three books.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank Heavens for Dr. Phil., September 20, 2004

By	DI (Lousiana) - See all my reviews

I find Dr. Phil's newest book just super. I have been stuggling with a way for my family to really spend some quality time together.In chapter 3 he gives some great ideas about how to spend time with your family and how to make your kids want to spend more time with you. Although I am not done with the whole book I am really looking forward to reading more words of wisdom from an incredible family man.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good advice, September 20, 2004

By	Daisy (Georgia) - See all my reviews

this is real advice for real parents with real problems. There are a lot of parenting books out there, but this book beats them hands down. it is practical useable advice for all parents. whether you have a family that is in need of serious help or you just feel that your family could be closer this is the book for you and yours.