Mental illness is on the rise among young people. Anxiety, depression, self-harm and oversubscription of meds is at an all-time high. Dr Tara Porter is a clinical psychologist with 30 years experience, who is passionate about helping parents - and children - navigate the current mental health crisis. In this easy-to-read book for parents with children of any age, she sets out her stall for redressing the balance in the way we parent amidst the challenges of modern life.

The key aim of the manifesto Tara presents in this book is to nurture children to grow up feeling that they are 'good enough'. Children who are not controlled by anxiety and who feel relatively happy and with an ability to regulate their emotions; who are able to eventually fly the nest with self-esteem intact. The route she advocates is for parents to embrace their own 'good enough' self. She looks at how accepting our own flaws and limitations, and that of the hurly-burly world, we can help children adjust to this in their own lives.

Exploring the cultural zeitgeist, the pressures on parents and children today and the fast-moving and highly nuanced world we live in, the book focusses on the themes of firm and kind; good enough; and the relationship between parent and child. Tara develops these themes through every age and stage from baby to young adult and in doing so she addresses many of the common difficulties in family life: in the early chapters focusing on babies, thinking about sleep; in the toddler section she looks at tantrums, in the childhood section there are chapters on phones, food and friendship and in the teenage chapters, qualifications, expectations and sex and relationships will come to the fore.

Expertly weaving personal experience, research and clinical material, Good Enough is an insightful, non-judgemental read and a clarion call to parents to offer balanced, boundaried emotional support to our children.

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Praise for You Don't Understand Me by Dr Tara Porter:

'This book is the greatest gift you could give your daughter' - Caitlin Moran

'After reading it I want to call every parent of every adolescent girl I know' - The Times

'If God were a mother, this is the Bible she would write for teenage girls and young women' - Caitlin Moran

'Full of knowledge, warmth, and humour about the challenges young girls face' - Julia Samuel

Book Information
ISBN 9781399736077
Author Dr Tara Porter
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Yellow Kite
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton