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Regular Features
THE
PARENT COACH
Dr.
Steven Richfield provides articles on many different aspects of raising a child
with ADHD.
ASK
THE ADVOCATE
Each
month we our advocate will be answering questions from our visitors about yours
and your children's rights in the educational system.
PARENTS
TALK
A mother is trying to help her teenage son learn anger management.
MOTIVATION
TIPS
Five great ideas for motivation, including The Shoe Race, Trading Places
and more.
ORGANIZATION
TIPS
Organize your child at home, and maybe find some tips that will help you
as well.
ADHD
IN THE NEWS
Headlines about ADHD, Learning Disability and Mental Disorders
Study on ADD and TV
The recent study published on watching television between the ages of one and
three and the possible link to ADD/ADHD did not take many considerations into
account. The author of the study even admits that he cannot conclude that
television watching and ADD/ADHD are linked.
Read the
Article
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ADDHelpline is pleased to add a new column to their
monthly newsletter:
The Parent Coach - A Column For Proactive Parents
Dr. Steven Richfield www.parentcoachcards.com
If you’re a parent, have the following questions ever crossed
your mind?
-What are some good ways to connect with my elusive teen?
-How can I help my competitive kids control their rivalry?
-Can I prepare my young child for the social hurdles down the road?
These and many other questions cross my mind everyday, sometimes
when I’m with my own sons, ages 9 and 12, and often times when I’m guiding
other parents and their children in my child psychology practice. My name is Dr.
Steven Richfield. Most of my professional time is devoted to helping children
develop the social and emotional skills to smooth out the bumps in their
lives. I’ve been working in the mental health field since 1980 and received my
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Hahnemann University (Philadelphia) in
1986. I maintain a full-time private practice in the Philadelphia suburbs,
specializing in the needs of ADHD children.
During the past several years, I have developed a system
for guiding parents who wish to take a proactive role in the social and
emotional growth of their children. This method is called Parent Coaching. It
asks parents to look at problem situations as opportunities for coaching and,
when the timing and delivery is right, discuss with the child the skills that
are needed to cope with problem situations. To assist in this process, I have
published a set of Parent Coaching Cards, available via my website:
www.parentcoachcards.com
The purpose of this column is to offer practical coaching advice to
parents on a range of issues that confront us all every day. I
welcome readers to e-mail me with questions or comments.. My intention is to
offer more than just answers to questions, though. By referring to the Parent
Coach approach, I will outline goal-oriented, preventive steps that parents can
take to help their children mature. ParentCoaching helps you raise the
social and emotional competencies of your children so that they can be
better prepared for the challenges ahead.
I discovered a long time ago that one key ingredient in any successful
coaching
relationship with a child is to recognize that parents, too, have a lot to
learn. Children will be far more receptive to our attempts to coach life skills
if they don’t feel talked down to, but sense that both of you are “in this
coaching thing together.” The importance of establishing a safe dialogue for
coaching can not be overestimated. Parents help create this safety when
they admit to their own errors, accept helpful and constructive feedback from
others (including their child), and pledge to try harder next time.
The second major discovery that I made in my parenting journey many
years ago was the importance of finding my coaching voice. The coaching voice is
calm, clear, and affectionate. There is no better way to shut down the coaching
pathway than to approach our children with the “you’re going to listen to
me” shove-it-in-their-ears approach. Our tone of voice sends a
very powerful message to our children about how we are feeling toward them at
the moment we are delivering a message. If our delivery sounds overly angry and
forceful, our message often gets blocked by a child’s defensiveness. Yet,
firmness is often needed, just not at the expense of affection.
Please consider visiting my website to discover more about my
method and look at some sample Parent Coaching Cards. The program is now in use
in thousands of homes, agencies, and schools around the world. You will also
find additional articles that I have written and that have appeared around the
country about my work. My first column will be appearing in September.
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