Surviving Your Child’s Adolescence:
How to Understand, and Even Enjoy the Rocky Road to Independence
Parents of teenagers often wonder, “Why is my kid trying to drive me
crazy?” as their once sweet child begins to be defiant, combative,
manipulative and even lazy. This distinctive change in a child’s
behavior often marks the onset of adolescence. It’s when a child starts
to test boundaries and pull away from their parents so that they can
have more room to grow.
To explore the impact of adolescence on families, and to help parents
cope with this challenging stage in their child’s development, Carl
Pickhardt, a psychologist, parenting expert and blogger for Psychology
Today, has writtenSURVIVING YOUR CHILD’S ADOLESCENCE (March
2013, Jossey-Bass, 978-1-118-22883-8), an indispensable guide
to understanding and navigating this unique developmental period.
Publishers
Weekly considers SURVIVING YOUR CHILD’S ADOLESCNECE a
“witty yet sensible guidebook to the adolescent years will help parents
stay steady as their kids negotiate the rocky waters on their journey to
independence.”
Yet, despite whatever alarming accounts parents have heard, they aren’t
destined to suffer when their child enters adolescence. In fact,
adolescence is a relatively new concept that was developed in the early
1900s to describe the transitional time between the end of childhood and
the onset of early adulthood.
In an easy-to-read style, Pickhardt breaks down adolescence into four
stages, not only so that parents can anticipate the common developmental
changes, but also to illustrate the ways adolescents evolve throughout
the years. Starting from late elementary school through the college
years, the four stages are:
-
Early Adolescence (ages 9 – 13) - accomplishes the separation
from childhood
-
Mid Adolescence (ages 13 – 15) - establishes an independent
‘family’ of peers
-
Late Adolescence (ages 15 – 18) - experimenting with acting
older to get ready to operate more grown up
-
Trial Independence (ages 18 – 23) - to practice taking care of
oneself on one’s own
SURVIVING YOUR CHILD’S ADOLOSCENCE also shines a light on the
significant ways in which Mothers and Fathers parent differently, and
how parents can work with these sex roles to better contribute to their
child’s growth.
Pickhardt says, “Mothers and Fathers face different parenting challenges
– Mothers often have a hard time letting go and Fathers can have a
difficult time staying connected to their kid, especially if they have a
daughter. This issue is often overlooked, but it is vital for parents to
know how to both let go and stay connected to their sons and daughters
as they move through this transformative period of time.”
From communication, conflict and decision-making, SURVIVING YOUR
CHILD’s ADOLOSCENCE speaks to every aspect of the adolescent
experience. It is the must-have touchstone resource for every parent who
wants to protect and guide their child through the journey of
adolescence to adulthood’s shores.
Samantha Rubenstein
Publicist
srubenstei@wiley.com
415-782-3213