AZ OF THERAPEUTIC PARENTING

If you are thinking of buying this and dithering about just do it! I was fiddling about thinking about it and got the sample to my kindle. It is so useful. I love the approach and the reality checks. I am biological mother to a child with asd. I am not the target audience at all. I think if only there wad a rewrite for asd and sen kids it would be so wonderful. This approach totally gets it! Plus such helpful things to actually DO. Books so often say 'I will expand on that later and give you strategies' Then suddenly you have finished and hey where were the strategies I can actually use in my home... Well there's loads in here! I wish I wish I wish it was written or there was a sister book for sen kids but hey ho, I will just have to work it out myself what applies and what doesn't. However I have learnt so much and I take my hat off to the other people who are using this book and all the struggles they have to help mend the hearts of their kids.

This book is amazing, just wish I had got it sooner. Written by a former social worker, come fosterer, foster agency manager, come adoptive mum to five (!) children who realised very quickly the advice she had been trained to give parents was seriously lacking in effectiveness.Sarah Naish writes in a down to earth, straightforward way sharing her experiences of parenting and bringing up 5 children ‘rescued’ from severe neglect. She talks about why children with early life trauma behave like they do, and how to parent them, calmly and effectively with empathy and understanding without blaming them for how they feel.It really is like someone wrote an owners manual and trouble shoot guide for my child. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I was a little sceptical about this book because I find some of the ideas put forward in books recommended by Social Care are more theoretical than practical. This book breaks that mould. It opens by giving some global guidance about the therapeutic parenting approach which is applied throughout. I found that based in sound common sense and it was clearly written by someone who has been through exactly the same experiences that we are as adoptive parents.The book is logical and well and well laid out.Once the basic principal is explained there is a logical a-z list of behaviours / problems whereby the behaviours are identified ie “What it looks like” then follows a list of “Why it might happen” then some suggested “Preventative strategies”, then “ Stategies during” and finally suggested strategies how to deal with the behaviours afterwards /long term.This book was clearly written from real life experience (although the author is clearly very well qualified in this field academically) and not written by someone with no real personal experience who has just obtained a theoretical degree obtained in a university. That is what makes this book stand out. The author knows the reality and not just the theory. She clearly appreciates, from experience, the major traumas children taken into care have suffered. She appreciates the behaviours children develop as a direct result of the negative experiences that have been inflicted upon them and offers practical advice to recognise, to understand, to help cope with and how to address the behaviours for the children’s long term wellbeing but also for the sanity of the parents. It’s not the child’s fault that they need extra help but the author offers more than sympathy, she offers ways of identifying the cause of the behaviour and practical way to address the problem.If you have a child who has been through the care system or is currently in care this book is a “must buy”.

I received this marvellous book this morning and have barely been able to put it down. I consider this essential reading for anyone parenting a child who has experienced developmental trauma, especially foster carers and adopters. That said, this is a book with strategies that will benefit all children and young people. It's as easy to read as it is hard to put down and offers fantastic strategies and solutions for all real life situations.Simply brilliant!

I have a couple of traumatised children in my care for several years now. I've been on all sorts of courses to help them with attachment disorders, but this is the first time I've read anything that sounds like my life and makes sense. I've been putting a few things into place and hopeful we will see results, am very mindful that nothing happens over night, or even in a couple of weeks.It is an easy read, no rubbish in it and very helpful. From this I have also recently purchased The complete guide to Therapeutic Parenting from the same author. Would highly recommend both books.