Abstract

Parenting a severely disruptive child can be exhausting and demoralizing to the point where breaking the cycle of bad behaviour seems an impossible task. Happy Families offers a realistic, step-by-step, practical approach to tackling destructive behaviour that helps parents regain control and establish harmony within the family.

Using hands-on techniques based on the principles of non-violent resistance, each chapter deals with a different stage of the process - from communicating to the child an unwavering determination that the situation will change and enlisting the support of family and friends, to taking positive action in a way that avoids escalation. General advice such as how to respond constructively and consistently to provocation is included throughout, and morale-boosting tips encourage flagging parents to persevere with the approach.

Happy Families will empower despairing parents and caregivers who seek to contain, counter and positively re-direct the aggression they face from children in distress, resulting in deep-felt and lasting change.

This short, easy to read book provides a basic step by step guide to the principles and strategies fo this approach, empowering parents to help them feel more in control and effective...Overall, this concise guide may be the perfect solution for families looking for an alternative way to address their child's behaviour.
Youth in Mind
If things were different from how they are, what would I have done? Then, this book might help. How? Firstly because it is brief. If you're in trouble you certainly don't have the leisure time to read some weighty tome. No. You want something that's easy to read, lays out the facts, provides a straightforward approach and a plan of action. Interestingly, to me at least, is the reference to shouting, that basically this is an ineffective technique when it comes to parenting. It's quite a common reference in parenting books and it always amuses me when I read it. 'The authors accept that this approach is not a quick fix. It is a lot more difficult than simply losing your temper and yelling, but it is also much more affective; with patience and determination parental authority can be restored, and with it the harmony of home and family life.
Autisable
Happy Families... proposes a "non-violent resistance" approach that avoids escalation while making it quite clear that silence does not equal acceptance. Through techniques like sit-down strikes and calling everyone in your child's social circle, the approach allows parents to confront dangerous behavior without turning up the emotional volume or allowing the child to be in control. This process that requires a lot of patience, perseverance, and daring from parents who may be feeling embattled and overwhelmed themselves, but this slim guidebook does a good job in presenting the steps in a simple and straightforward way. You can read it quickly and start to think about how you'd put it into action.
Terri Mauro - About.com
Dr. Carmelite Avraham-Krehwinkel is an affiliate researcher at the Nordoff Robbins Centre in Witten, Germany. She has many years of experience in child, adolescent and family psychotherapy, and specialises in working with children with behavioural problems. David Aldridge is co-director of the Nordoff Robbins Centre in Witten, Germany. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.