welcome image

Criticism is not a motivator.

Adolescence can be the cruelest place on earth. It can really be heartless.  ( Tori Amos)

Many clinicians find it easier to tell parents their child has a brain-based disorder than suggest parenting changes. Jennifer Harris (psychiatrist)

Being a parent of a teenager can cure a person of narcissism.

It is what we say and do when we're angry that creates the very model our children will follow when dealing with their own frustrations.

Children today are under enormous pressures rarely experienced by their parents or grandparents. Many of today's children are being enticed to grow up too quickly and are encountering challenges for which they are totally unprepared.

The best inheritance  parents can give their children is a few minutes of their time each day.

There has been an explosion in the prescribing of medication for very young children, particularly preschool and kindergarten boys (Juli Zito , Univ. of Maryland)

Don't wait for him to turn 10 before you reveal that you are not in fact the hired help whose job it is to clean up after him.

Removing a child from a traumatic environment does not remove the trauma from the child's memory.

Learn more.

Foster Parent Training

 

 

It was my pleasure recently to have had the opportunity of speaking to a group of foster parents from Carpe Diem Residential Treatment Homes in the Hamilton/Ancaster, Ontario area. Approximately 20 foster parents and staff participated in the workshop “A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain” and they learned that modern science can now explain biological reasons for some of the worrisome behaviours we see in our teens. The invention of those marvelous imaging machines have allowed neuroscientists to look inside our brains and they have discovered that much of what they used to think about the teen brain is wrong. It is still undergoing a major rewiring process well into their 20’s. We are now tiptoeing on the edge of understanding why teens can be so mature one minute and so maddening the next.

Carpe Diem provides foster homes for children of all ages and I give thanks for the dedication, patience and love of their foster parents.

Back to Top

Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

Learn more

+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

Learn more

+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

Learn more

+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

Learn more

See more of our workshops


Contact

2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

Archive


Parents' Comments

“Our psychiatrist recommended Rick to help us sort out behaviour management issues for our autistic son. He was an invaluable help.”

(C.C. – Sarnia)