The Parent-Child Dance: A Guide to Help You Understand and Shape Your Child's Behavior, shows you how to help your child improve his behavior and become calmer, happier, and more focused. You'll also learn how to strengthen and enjoy your parent-child relationship--without guilt, shame, or blame. Written by pediatric behavioral specialist, Miriam Manela, OTR/L, this sensitively-illustrated parenting guide contains over eighty creative activities and shows you the proven techniques the author has taught to thousands of parents, kids, teachers, and therapists. Get help for your child for difficulties such as over-sensitivity or irritability; discomfort with touch, sound, smell, and taste; overly rough and rowdy behavior; frequent anger outbursts or temper tantrums; anxiety or nervousness; appearing withdrawn or shutdown; difficulty with peers, problems with teachers; and more issues that the author, a pediatric occupational therapist, has successfully treated in hundreds of patients in her private practice. Table of Contents ForewordNote to Parents, Guardians, and ProfessionalsIntroductionChapter One: Stress and the Dysregulated ChildChapter Two: The Child-on-the-EdgeChapter Three: The Princess and the PeaChapter Four: The Heat-Seeking MissileChapter Five: The Squeaky WheelChapter Six: Taking Care of YouResource GuideAcknowledgmentsIndex Recommendations and Praise for The Parent-Child Dance: "Miriam Manela has the key to help you unlock the mystery of your child's challenging behavior...A compassionate, insightful, user-friendly book." -Pat Carroll, host of "Raising Our Kids," WCBS radio. "This book is like having an occupational therapist living in your attic! Through science, step-by-step instructions, and helpful illustrations, Manela and Zwolinski beautifully reveal the secrets of therapeutic, purposeful connection for the benefit of parents and children alike. Let's dance, let's dance indeed!" -Anthony T. DeBenedet, M.D., Coauthor of the Bestseller, The Art of Roughhousing "The Parent-Child Dance is a wonderful resource book for parents and professionals to help children with the range of sensory processing disorders...This must-have book is full of activities that can be easily integrated into play and everyday routines." -Dr. Georgia DeGangi Clinical Psychologist, Occupational Therapist "In this highly readable and practical book Manela and Zwolinski share hands-on approaches and easy to understand explanations of some of the underlying causes of dysregulated child behavior. The easily understandable recommendations coupled with the wonderful illustrations that clearly describe how to implement the exercises combine to make this a volume that parents will find to be a tool that can help them meet the challenge of raising a child with behavioral difficulties." -Dr. David Pelcovitz, Psychologist, Y.U. "The Parent-Child Dance offers many creative activities parents can do with their children at home to help them with some common behavioral issues." -Howard Glasser is Executive Director of Children's Success Foundation & Creator of the Nurtured Heart Approach(r) "The Parent-Child Dance could only have been written by someone with Miriam Manela's expertise, dedication, and insight. In it, Miriam helps you get in touch with your child's inner world, and gives you the tools you need to strengthen your parent-child relationship without blaming or shaming." -Richard M. Zwolinski, Author of Therapy Revolution: Find Help, Get Better, and Move On

A companion to the popular website APracticalWedding.com and A Practical Wedding Planner, A Practical Wedding helps you sort through the basics to create the wedding you want -- without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You'll discover: The real purpose of engagement (hint: it's not just about the planning) How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy? How to communicate decisions to your family Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it Wedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches: the Team Practical brides. So here's to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.

Cultivate effective partnerships between parents and professionals through honest, respectful and skillful communication The authors draw upon the metaphor of "dance" to better understand the complexities and possibilities of forming partnerships between educators, administrators, early childhood providers, therapists, support staff, other professionals, and parents of children with disabilities. This revised edition of Do You Hear What I Hear? Parents and Professionals Working Together for Children With Special Needs is rich with stories, examples, and practical insights. This book, written from both the parent′s and the professional′s points of view, provides a developmental approach to understanding and forging positive adult relationships, while also providing concrete ways to advocate for children. The authors′ years of experience as successful consultants, trainers, and educators lends this helpful resource a deep sense of realism and compassion. They remind the reader of how essential the parent-professional partnership is—and why it IS a dance that matters. Key features include: Practical insights and evidence-based approaches to forming partnerships Easy-to-read, non-technical language that speaks to both the heart and the mind Sample letters and other forms of communication shared between professionals and parents Stories and examples of real-world conversations between parents and professionals Effective ways to handle difficult situations Rich with humor and heart, this highly readable book offers helpful steps for self reflection, personnel preparation, and parent-professional training. Educators and parents will find expert guidance for listening to each other′s music, trying out each other′s dance steps, and working toward a new dance that includes contributions from all—with the ultimate reward of seeing children achieve their highest potential.

A unique manual to raising a child—for parents everywhere—using the metaphor of dance to provide expert, comforting advice. Having children and raising a family should be the greatest joy in one’s life, but it is a role that requires tremendous responsibility and patience. As parents, our job is to provide a strong foundation for our children, so that they can eventually grow up to become self-sufficient adults. However, just like everything in life, all children are different, some requiring more support than others and to varying degrees over time. Parenting is like a dance between parent and child. The more seamless the movements, the more graceful the interaction. When a parent takes the lead or decides to share, over time with practice, the dance can be smooth and effortless. Nevertheless, when the child is unintentionally allowed to take the lead, the parent-child dance may appear more rocky and unstable. This often occurs when the parent is unclear and at odds with their role. The ensuing battle for the lead may cause disharmony in the relationship and the dance. Parenting is a lifelong commitment that takes patience, thoughtfulness, and skill. The Parent-Child Dance is designed to explain the concept of the dance and act as a catalyst for encouraging parents to begin their journey in making positive changes in their child’s life. Parents will recognize the scenarios and gain insight through humorous examples and step-by-step strategies to avoid disharmony.

A unique manual to raising a child—for parents everywhere—using the metaphor of dance to provide expert, comforting advice. Having children and raising a family should be the greatest joy in one’s life, but it is a role that requires tremendous responsibility and patience. As parents, our job is to provide a strong foundation for our children, so that they can eventually grow up to become self-sufficient adults. However, just like everything in life, all children are different, some requiring more support than others and to varying degrees over time. Parenting is like a dance between parent and child. The more seamless the movements, the more graceful the interaction. When a parent takes the lead or decides to share, over time with practice, the dance can be smooth and effortless. Nevertheless, when the child is unintentionally allowed to take the lead, the parent-child dance may appear more rocky and unstable. This often occurs when the parent is unclear and at odds with their role. The ensuing battle for the lead may cause disharmony in the relationship and the dance. Parenting is a lifelong commitment that takes patience, thoughtfulness, and skill. The Parent-Child Dance is designed to explain the concept of the dance and act as a catalyst for encouraging parents to begin their journey in making positive changes in their child’s life. Parents will recognize the scenarios and gain insight through humorous examples and step-by-step strategies to avoid disharmony.

The third edition of Handbook of Marriage and the Family describes, analyzes, synthesizes, and critiques the current research and theory about family relationships, family structural variations, and the role of families in society. This updated Handbook provides the most comprehensive state-of-the art assessment of the existing knowledge of family life, with particular attention to variations due to gender, socioeconomic, race, ethnic, cultural, and life-style diversity. The Handbook also aims to provide the best synthesis of our existing scholarship on families that will be a primary source for scholars and professionals but also serve as the primary graduate text for graduate courses on family relationships and the roles of families in society. In addition, the involvement of chapter authors from a variety of fields including family psychology, family sociology, child development, family studies, public health, and family therapy, gives the Handbook a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary framework.

Drawing upon contemporary psychoanalytic thought, attachment theory, and the literature on children's emotional development, this book not only offers a novel conceptualization of ADHD but also a sophisticated and practical set of ideas for adapting play therapy to effectively treat it. It articulates an approach to understanding and helping ADHD children that expands and augments even as it challenges the usual neurocognitive and medicalized perspectives. The reader will appreciate the value of an energetic play process with ADHD children, encounter justifications for the therapist's liberal use of authentic self-expression and judicious mentoring for socialization purposes, be prompted to think differently about the role of interpretation and mutual enactment in child work, and locate guidelines for working supportively and caringly with parents. The book contains ample, lucid case descriptions and clinical vignettes to ground and enrich the reader's understanding of concepts and techniques. It is an essential read for mental health professionals, researches, educators and parents wishing to enlarge their understanding of ADHD.

The purpose of the book is to help teachers develop an understanding of dance in the preschool setting, sense when dance can be a natural extension of classroom activity, and develop skill in planning and leading meaningful dance experiences. The first chapter of this book discusses what dance in preschool education is about and its importance for young children. In the second chapter, the content of movement is presented; these elements are the building blocks from which dance activities are created and provide reference points for developing ideas into class activities. The third chapter discusses general preparation for dance activities, and chapter 4 offers a step-by-step description of the process of developing an idea into a class session. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss the reality of teaching a dance class, and the final two chapters give suggestions for adapting material to particular groups--the very young, the handicapped, and parent-child groups. The appendixes include resources and strategies for recorded music, ideas for use in lessons, children's literature, sample original stories, sample lesson on a specific movement theme: curved and angular lines, and suggested resources for further reading. (JD)

This newly expanded and revised edition of the Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) Treatment Manual is the essential companion to the second edition of Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT). The second edition is updated to include four new CPRT treatment protocols and parent notebooks adapted for specific populations: parents of toddlers, parents of preadolescents, adoptive families, and the teacher/student relationship, along with the revised original CPRT protocol and parent notebook for ages 3−10. This manual provides the CPRT/filial therapist a comprehensive framework for conducting CPRT. Included are detailed outlines, teaching aides, activities, and resources for each of the 10 sessions. The manual is divided into two major sections, Therapist Protocol and Parent Notebook, and contains a comprehensive CPRT Training Resources section along with an index to the accompanying Companion Website. The accompanying Companion Website contains all necessary and supplemental training materials in a format that allows for ease of reproduction and enhanced usability including the following: CPRT Protocol—Ages 3 to 10 and Parent Notebook Toddler Adapted CPRT Protocol and Parent Notebook Preadolescent Adapted CPRT Protocol and Parent Notebook Adoptive Families Adapted CPRT Protocol and Parent Notebook Teacher/Student Adapted Protocol and Teacher Notebook Therapist Study Guide Training Resources, Teaching Aides and Supplemental Materials Marketing Materials Assessments Drawing on their extensive experience as professional play therapists and filial therapists, Bratton and Landreth apply the principles of CCPT and CPRT in this easy-to-follow protocol for practitioners to successfully implement the evidence-based CPRT model. By using this manual and the accompanying Companion Website in conjunction with the CPRT text, filial therapists will have a complete package for training parents in CCPT skills to act as therapeutic agents with their own children.