Effective Parenting is learning to parent the child you have, not the child you wish you had. It's not about being a perfect parent—it's about being a “good enough” parent.
Effective parenting techniques focus on holding your child accountable for misbehavior and on developing better problem solving skills.
Many parents write in to Empowering Parents and ask, “Is it too late to change the way I parent my child—and will it actually work if I do?” In this article, James Lehman explains how you can change the way you parent, and why your child’s behavior has a much better chance of improving when... Read more »
How many times has this gone through your head? Your “difficult” child—the defiant one who’s constantly acting out and upsetting everyone—has just done it again. Maybe he’s called his little sister a foul name, smashed your favorite framed family photo, or screamed in your face. In a moment of defeat, you think, “What... Read more »
James Lehman, creator of The Total Transformation Program, examines the effects of acting out behavior on parents and the family, and reveals how to calm the storm in the home. Q: A child’s behavior problems can cause disturbances in a family beyond the relationship between the parent and the child, can’t they? I’ve had friends whose... Read more »
I want to reach out and invite you to talk about something we often don’t bring up with others—the hard times we all experience as parents. The moments when you were at the end of your rope, when your child was pushing all your buttons and you didn’t know what to do. Maybe your... Read more »
Do you feel like your family members, your kid’s teachers, and even counselors blame you for your child’s acting out behavior? You’re not alone. As James Lehman says, there are countless parents out there “living in little prisons”—feeling trapped, isolated, and ashamed of their child’s defiant or out of control behavior. If you’re in this... Read more »
Does your child often perceive himself as being right when he's wrong and wrong when he's right? Does he wonder why everyone is always mad at him? Some children have a hard time reading social cues and it has a profound impact on their behavior. Misreading social cues can include not understanding other people's words,... Read more »
Have you ever listened to parenting advice, all the while thinking, "That won't work with my child—nothing does. He's too difficult; no one can get through to him"? If you've ever felt this way, stop what you're doing and read this article. We sat down and talked to James Lehman, who explains how to get... Read more »
Being a mother or father is a balance of taking care of your kids and letting them grow up and learn from their mistakes. Your role of simply loving and protecting your baby from pain and discomfort changes to one of accepting that your child or teen will need to experience natural consequences for their... Read more »
What are we responsible for as parents? And what should we—and our kids—consider to be privileges? And why have the two become so confused? It does seem like somewhere along the way, kids have gotten more entitled in their thinking. It’s not enough just to have the basics, they say they need it all. Now! Fast!... Read more »
Empowering Parents editor Elisabeth Wilkins talks with James Lehman about his life, his book, and the hard-won lessons he discovered growing up as a defiant, acting-out child. From being abandoned in a basement as an infant to a life of crime and drug addiction in his teens and young adulthood, learn how James transformed his... Read more »
