Parents and teachers often go to great lengths to figure out what behavioral technique – punishment or praise, carrot or stick, consequence, time-out or reward –is going to be most effective. What’s meant by “most effective” is: what will deliver the greatest ability to influence our child’s or teenager’s behavior so that it falls more in line with what we want it to be. Read on…you may be surprised to discover what what really works.

VIDEO Learn why children thrive when parents lead with loving authority—balancing warmth, gentleness, and firmness. Discover how confident, connected parenting helps kids feel secure, rest in healthy dependence, and naturally grow, learn, and mature.

VIDEO Discover why feelings are essential for kids' healthy growth and emotional maturity. This video shares parenting tips on helping kids process feelings, explaining how emotional defenses can block development and how parents can nurture resilient, emotionally balanced children.

VIDEO Learn why parental guilt isn’t something to escape, but a powerful emotion that helps you become a more attuned and responsible parent. This video offers parenting tips on embracing guilt as a sign of healthy responsibility, deepening your connection and growth in your relationship with your kids.

We hear that we shouldn’t praise our kids. We’re given all these alternative ways to comment on their accomplishments and creations...What should we actually do?

Sometimes our kids can say something that lands right in our Achilles heel - what should we do in these situations?

Emotions are so important. Attachment is so important. Sometimes emotions come out in ways that threaten our connection with our child - what should we do then?

All kids needs alpha adults in their lives. Here are some examples of “good alphas” in movies, books, poetry and television shows.

There are three types of play that can help vent frustration.

Sensitive kids need an invitation to express their emotions.

With steadfast warmth and patience, defenses can melt.

Five Steps to Healthy Emotional Development

Gentleness and kind persuasion win where force and bluster fail.

A four-year-old brain is not yet wired hold two feelings at the same time.

What can we do to support anxious, obsessive, restless or risk-taking kids?