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The challenge of adolescence is to balance the right of the parents to feel they are in charge with the need of the adolescent to gain independence.

We should not medicate the boys so they fit the school; we should change the school to fit the boy. (Leonard Sax, M.D. Ph.D)

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.

Children do not develop on their own - they only develop within relationships.

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

The quickest way to change your child’s behaviour is to first change your own.

If you (parents) tend to overreact to your child's misbehaviour - your child learns that he can't trust you. Mom, Dad, stay regulated!

If there is no relationship - nothing else matters !

The teenage years require a delicate balance between the young person's need to gain independence, and the parent's need to retain authority.

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

Learn more.

“Alternative” Approaches

The preceding 5 approaches could be described as the “conventional” approaches to changing behaviour. There are of course other directions one could look, but they would be categorized more as “alternative” approaches. I do not mean to belittle them in any way, it is just that they are more “outside the box” and they generally do not have the degree of independent and peer reviewed research to provide evidence of their effectiveness.

Examples of these “alternative” approaches include:

  • chiropractic skeletal adjustments
  • magnet therapy
  • nutritional supplements
  • colour therapy
  • “healing” circles
  • hypnosis
  • meditation
  • and many other

There are unquestionably many honest and sincere anecdotal reports claiming the merits of these approaches, but they represent initiatives beyond the scope of my postings.

Next posting – What is the Best Option?

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

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+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

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

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+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

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+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

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

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