Library of Clean Reads: Child psychology

Showing posts with label Child psychology. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Depression and Your Child: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers by Deborah Serani

Depression and Your Child: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers by Deborah Serani
Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 978-1442221451
Published September 16, 2013
Hardcover, 242 pages

This is an excellent parenting book and resource. It is informative, enlightening and comforting for parents who want to help their children suffering from depression. I decided to read this book because having suffered post-partum depression, I am keenly aware that depression is more likely to occur in children whose parents have it. Knowing what to look for as symptoms and knowing I can do something about it is empowering for me as a parent.

Psychologist and professor Deborah Serani comes across as empathetic, kind and knowledgeable. She writes both about her personal and professional and clinical experiences, relating her own struggles with major depressive disorder as a child and discusses real cases to highlight the issues addressed in each chapter. I loved reading the cases. Serani defines pedriatic depression, surprising me with the fact that even babies can be depressed. She goes on to help parents identify if their child is suffering with a mood disorder in a section entitled Ten Questions to Ask Yourself. I think I will be re-reading and referring to this section often as my children go though the different stages of growth.

I paid particular attention to the different treatments of childhood depression and was happy to see Serani even included a whole chapter on holistic approaches to depression. She discusses how the five senses can be refueled with complementary and alternative medicine. I also paid attention to the topics of self-harm and suicide, giving me more insight. Serani states a list of warning signs and risk factors for youth suicide.

What I liked the most about this book is that Serani empowers parents to take an active role in their child's life. She helps parents to understand the illness, what to expect from medication and psychotherapy, and prepares them for the reality of parenting a child with depression. I think that as parents it's good to know as much as we can about mental illness because depression is a common illness with a stigma attached to it and soon to be the second leading cause of disability worldwide. We want to be prepared to help our children who can easily experience depressive episodes because of the high levels of stress living in a society much different than our own. Cyber bullying and its repercussions are getting worse.

I recommend this book to all parents. It is easy to understand, eye-opening, and very informative. I consider it an excellent parenting book and resource. I now want to read her other book Living With Depression.

Note: This book is rated C = clean read.
Read more reviews by visiting the Pump Up Your Book Tour Page.

Check out this short but powerful book trailer. I think some of the stats it quotes will surprise you.

About the Author:
Dr. Deborah Serani is a go-to media expert on a variety of psychological issues. Her interviews can be found in ABC News, Newsday, Womens Health & Fitness, The Chicago Tribune, The Associated Press, and affiliate radio station programs at CBS and NPR, just to name a few. She is a ShareCare Expert for Dr. Oz, writes for Psychology Today, helms the "Ask the Therapist" column for Esperanza Magazine and has worked as a technical advisor for the NBC television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. A licensed psychologist in practice over twenty years, Serani is also an adjunct professor at Adelphi University teaching courses in clinical disorders and treatment and is the author of the award-winning book Living with Depression.

Buy this book at Amazon.

Visit her website at www.drdeborahserani.com.

Connect & Socialize with Deborah!

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Reviewed by Laura

Disclosure: Thanks to the publisher and Pump Up Your Book Promotions for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté (Audio book review)

Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté
Post Hypnotic Press
Published 2012
Narrator: Daniel Maté
Length: 12 hrs 17 mins

As a parent my worst fear is to lose my kids—whether to death or to the dark side of this world where drugs, misuse of sex and bad associations can hurt them. In the province of Quebec where I live, we have the highest rate of teen suicides in Canada, a fact that should alarm parents to the vulnerability of our kids and what we can do to hold on to them. When I was given the possibility to review the audio book Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Matter More Than Kids, I jumped at the chance. And I'm so glad I did!

The authors, two doctors who are also fathers, delve into the phenomena of peer orientation—when children form stronger attachments to their friends than to the adults in their lives, resulting in their becoming secretive, unreachable and hostile around their own parents even from a very young age. Having studied child psychology I was intrigued to learn more, especially since I am also a parent. I found this to be a well-written and intelligent book explaining how the attachment brain functions. I really appreciated how it helped me to better understand the youth culture, especially its aggressive behaviors, bullying, teen suicides, heightened sexuality, music, dialogue, and hostility toward adults.

This book is not a how-to book on parenting but rather a psychology book that helps a parent to understand the importance of attachment in their relationship with their children. When I was pregnant with my first child I read about attachment parenting and it appealed to my sense of motherhood and to my European cultural background. I feel it helped me to bond with my children. Listening to this book served to reinforce some of my parenting choices that at times went against the norm.

Hold on to Your Kids is a detailed discussion on the causes and effects of peer-orientation, however, the authors also offer solutions in the form of concepts, principles and practical advice. I felt empowered as a parent and this book really motivated me to be the best parent I could be. It fueled my intuitive need to be the best source of proper direction, guidance and love for my children. I have a new-found understanding of my children and their development, prompting me to do everything to hold on to them, as my husband and I raise them and help them mature into responsible and happy adults.

The narrator, Daniel Maté, has a warm and appealing voice that helped the material from becoming too text-bookish He was engaging as he narrated with warmth and fluidity. He nailed teen dialogue and changed voice inflection when reading samples of family situations. I enjoyed his narration and would love to hear more of his work.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with kids of any age—daycare workers, teachers, educators, youth therapists, psychologists, school principals, guidance counselors, but above all, parents. Hold on to your kids. They are precious, and lost without us.

Note: This book is rated C = clean read. There was an instance where the narrator is reading a note left by a kid to his parents that included a few f-words.

Reviewed by Laura

Disclosure: Thanks to Carlyn Craig from Post Hypnotic Press for sending me this audio book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Sound Bytes is hosted by Devourer of Books, a weekly Friday meme where you can link up your audio book reviews.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Smart Parenting for Smart Kids by Eileen Kennedy-Moore and Mark S. Lowenthal

Smart Parenting for Smart Kids: Nurturing Your Child's True Potential by Eileen Kennedy-Moore and Mark S. Lowenthal
Jossey-Bass/Wiley
ISBN: 978-0470640050
Published March 1, 2011
Trade Paperback, 320 pages

I am always on the lookout for good books on parenting, both as a parent and as an educational consultant. When I saw Smart Parenting for Smart Kids I knew I wanted to read it. My children are middle-graders with a new set of challenges from their toddler years, and I am a working mom with new challenges in my household management, parenting included! However, I didn't want a book on how to be a parent. I wanted one that helped me tackle specific issues as I helped my children to succeed in life. This was the perfect book for me.

Right off, I liked the tone in this book. It was intelligent, yet compassionate, chock-full of parenting insight and child psychology, yet practical and very readable. This book took me a long time to finish reading because it needs to be absorbed and it made me think a lot. It made me question my actions and my motives and had me observing more closely my children and their reactions toward my response whether positive or negative.

I'm on the bandwagon of parents who want to offer their kids good opportunities for learning, immersing our family in music lessons, extracurricular activities, sports, volunteering, homework supervision and so on. But I've learned to watch out for stress signals and to balance our family life so as not to be over-scheduled. Yet, I still struggle with this and reading Smart Parenting has assuaged my fears that my kids would be left out if not fully involved in activities that help them grow in some aspect of their life.

The chapters I focused on the most were: Tempering Perfectionism, which had me re-evaluating the way I supervise homework (I'm the perfectionist, not my kids!); Managing Sensitivity, which was so insightful for me on so many levels (both my daughter and I are sensitive); Handling Cooperation and Competition, which is helping me deal with my son's competitiveness; and Finding Joy, which made me realize how important it is to make small changes that will result in my family experiencing more joy and happiness.

Throughout the chapters, there are scenes with dialogue (some of which will sound so familiar) followed by strategies that parents can implement to deal with that particular situation or behaviour. These vignettes easily had me identify if this was a problem I had encountered (not just as a parent but also in my field) and how I could deal with the social, emotional and intellectual needs of my children and clients. I learned a lot about myself, not only as a parent but also as a person. Sometimes, helping your child succeed means changing the way you parent—like not correcting your child's homework!

I can't stress enough how helpful and insightful Smart Parenting is for any parent who wants to nurture their children's true potential without heaping expectations on them (ours or that of society) that can be detrimental in the long run. All parents, of course, want the best for their children, and whether we admit it or not, we do have expectations for them. But each child is an individual with a complex emotional, social and intellectual make-up. Smart Parenting guides parents in understanding their children and working alongside them to maturity and success according to their abilities and desires.

I highly recommend this intelligent book to all parents who feel the stress of helping their kids' achieve, to educators, social workers and teachers. It's an excellent resource and a keeper on my bookshelf. It' a book I will refer to again and again.

Note: This book is rated C = clean read.

I will count this book toward the following challenges: TBR Pile Reading Challenge, A-Z Book Challenge

Reviewed by Laura

Disclosure: Thanks to Eileen Kennedy-Moore and ReviewTheBook.com for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.