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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

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.