Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents: Uncommon Sense for Child Professionals. . - book review

Adolescence, Spring, 2003

TAFFEL, Ron. Getting Through to Difficult Kids and Parents: Uncommon Sense for Child Professionals. New York: The Guilford Press, 2001. 244pp. $28.00 (h).

The book is filled with insights gleaned from Taffel's 25 years of clinical experience and more than 1000 workshops conducted with parents, kids, and professionals. Provided are concrete strategies for building rapport with stressed-out parents, getting children and adolescents to talk about what really matters, spotting developmental and psychiatric problems before a crisis develops, and developing skills to strengthen kids' self-esteem and parents' effectiveness in setting limits. Special attention is given to the impact of pop culture and peer groups, as well as other pressing adolescent issues. Clearly recounted case vignettes get to the heart of what is going wrong between youngsters and their parents, and show how simple, empathic interventions can make a big difference. Also covered in depth are ways for professionals to handle their own emotional reactions to highly charged family situations.