Your Journey to Successful Parenting draws on your years as a clinical psychologist to guide readers through common parenting challenges, offering a blend of heartfelt stories, actionable advice, and practical strategies. Why was this an important book for you to write?

During my work life, I was aware that many parents didn’t have access to therapy. A lack of insurance, distance from therapy offices, or money issues can block access. To fill this void, I wrote a parenting book that demonstrates different ways of dealing with situations, kept the chapters and subchapters short and to the point, and wrote the book at a fifth-grade reading level so it is accessible to all. To increase accessibility, the book is available in all formats through Amazon and IngramSpark, so that libraries can access it. The audiobook is nearly finished, and I will publish it through Findaway Voices, as they have 34 platforms to distribute books, including public libraries.

What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?

Throughout the book, I weave the theme of attention, as it is central to raising happy and well-behaved children. This includes attention paid to children as well as attention paid to what you, as a parent, are saying and doing. I give many examples to illustrate how this works. Another central concept is that behaviors, thoughts, conversations, and even emotions can easily become habits, but those are easily changed by creating alternate habits. Timeouts are reframed as a way for the children to center themselves and self-regulate rather than as punishment. When working with parents, I noticed that they required a significant amount of support to create and utilize effective behavior charts. That became the longest chapter. Behavior charts work great with power struggles. As a psychologist, I have found that storytelling is an effective way to engage resistant children. People are primed to learn from others’ experiences.

What is a common misconception you feel people have about children struggling with behavior issues?

When parents struggle with challenging behaviors, they try various techniques. If those don’t work, they assume there’s something wrong with the child and reach out to professionals. Many times, there’s nothing wrong with the child. It could be a personality clash, or the parents were using the recommended approach the wrong way. Parenting has to feel comfortable. We can’t all parent the same way because we have different personalities. And finally, there’s the chance that there is something wrong, and the professionals will identify it, and offer support and solutions.

What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Your Journey to Successful Parenting?

The book was written as a handbook to be referred to time and again. There is no way a parent can remember every method for every problem. The book is organized by topic, so that lookup is easy and chapters make reference to other parts of the book that give more information about an issue.

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