Books
Getting to Calm – The Early Years
By Laura Kastner, Ph.D.
The latest in Dr. Kastner’s celebrated parenting series, Getting to Calm, The Early Years is the first book for parents of children ages 3-7 that analyzes popular parenting approaches in light of fifty years of parenting research and current evidence-based treatment models. Offering clear, step-by-step descriptions of proven and effective techniques, this book guides parents as they help their children build competencies. Through vivid family vignettes, Kastner illustrates common traps and solutions for typical problems parents face with this age group, such as sleep problems, tantrums, defiance, power struggles and discipline. Her goal to teach skills and explain the developmental meaning behind behaviors so that parents can understand their blossoming children, address challenges mindfully and wisely, and enjoy this marvelous phase of life.
Wise-Minded Parenting
By Laura Kastner, Ph.D.
Raising a happy and successful teenager is a challenge for any parent, even the most patient and wisest among us. Parenting adolescents requires all sorts of skills that most of us don’t naturally possess. In this down-to-earth, practical guide, you’ll learn how to tap your “wise mind” to calmly navigate even the stormiest of parenting moments. You’ll learn how to preserve your loving relationship while encouraging progress towards the 7 essentials of happy, healthy teens:
The 7 essentials of happy, healthy teens:
-
Secure attachment to parents
-
Self-control
-
Academic success
-
Social thriving
-
Emotional flourishing
-
Strong character
-
Physical health
Getting To Calm: Cool-headed strategies for parenting tweens and teens
By Laura S. Kastner, Ph.D., and Jennifer Wyatt, Ph.D.
Website at:
Introduction: Teen Difficulties Happen to the Best of Parents Raising an adolescent is a daunting experience. Though parents love their tween or teen, and life together may go well most of the time, when our kids come across as bratty, defiant, thoughtless or irresponsible, we can feel challenged like never before. Very few of us sail through our children’s adolescence completely unscathed, if not because of our teen’s own actions, then because of a tricky situation, such as a
social issue or a problem at school. The good news is that most teens — especially those with caring, engaged, responsible parents — come out well-adjusted. Still, most families experience some complicated challenges stemming from their child’s growing selfhood and push for independence. Getting to Calm breaks down 14 of the most frequently encountered and normal rough patches of adolescence, offering specific strategies for resolving these difficulties successfully and, better yet, for enhancing the teen’s development in the process. Continue Reading…
The Launching Years: Strategies for Parenting from Senior Year to College Life
By Laura S. Kastner, Ph.D., and Jennifer Wyatt, Ph.D.
Website at:
You Raised Your Child to Attend College and Be Independent. . . But Are You Ready for the Launching Years? Welcome to “the launching years”—that often tumultuous time between your child’s senior year of high school through the beginning years of college. It can be a roller coaster of emotions, with parents and teenagers reeling from the stress of college applications and a shift in relationship roles. Many families are taken by surprise with the challenges. Parents can find navigating the changes frustrating while trying to enjoy these last moments
together at home with their child and help them prepare for the future. The Launching Years: Strategies for Parenting from Senior Year to College Life addresses these issues and others, such as: Managing your pangs of impending separation Co-navigating decisions about college while managing your teen’s bouts of senioritis Responding to “freshman freakouts” and staying connected from a distance Handling your teen’s newfound independence and the experimentation with alcohol and sexuality that college often involves Combining years of family therapy experience and research with engaging text and stories of families dealing with launching issues, authors Laura S. Kastner, Ph.D, and Jennifer Wyatt, Ph.D., offer parents strategies for making this challenging transition a successful one. Laura S. Kastner, Ph.D. is a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington. A psychologist and mother of two, she lectures widely on adolescence and family behavior. Jennifer Wyatt, Ph.D., a Seattle-based writer and mother of four, contributes widely to a number of parenting publications. They are the authors of The Seven-Year Stretch: How Families Work Together to Grow Through Adolescence and the new book Getting to Calm: Cool-headed strategiesfor parenting tweens and teens. By Laura S. Kastner, Ph.D., and Jennifer Wyatt, Ph.D.
The Seven-Year Stretch: How Families Work Together to Grow Through Adolescence
By Laura S. Kastner, Ph.D., and Jennifer Wyatt, Ph.D.
Viewing adolescence in the context of the family, The Seven-Year Stretch is the first book to show parents how and why some teenagers end up well adjusted while others end up in trouble. Why are some teens impulsive rule-breakers, while others seem more mindful of right and wrong? Why do some turn to drugs and alcohol regularly, while others experiment only on occasion? Why are some families constantly battling, while others have only minor conflicts? How can parents distinguish between normal rebellion and deeper problems? In this book,
Laura Kastner, Ph.D., and Jennifer Wyatt, Ph.D., introduce us to a range of families—from thriving to struggling—and explain how their behavior patterns, past and present, affect the teenager’s development. Garnered from Dr. Kastner’s clinical and teaching experience, these true-to-life stories and dialogues illustrate the impact of such factors as clashing parenting styles, the temperaments of parents and children, parents’ own unresolved issues, marital dynamics, and circumstances such as divorce, financial stress, and cultural differences. With optimism and creativity, the authors explain how parents can harness their family strengths to face today’s challenges for adolescents. They look beyond the “shoulds,” describing what different parenting approaches look like and sound like in action. By Laura S. Kastner, Ph.D., and Jennifer Wyatt, Ph.D.