Closing the Gap: A Strategy for Bringing Parents and Teens Together

Amazon.com
Parents, do you know the names of your teen's three closest friends? And teens, do you know what your parents are putting most of their energy into right now? Twenty-two-year-old Jay McGraw, bestselling author of Life Strategies for Teens and son of another bestselling author, Phillip C. McGraw, a.k.a. Dr. Phil, wants parents and teens to find the answers to these questions and begin to bridge the familial gap. With the same fresh-faced, upbeat energy he displayed in his first book, Jay McGraw dispels myths, finds antidotes to "parent poisons," defuses "teenage land mines," and offers a refresher course in teen and parent dos and don'ts. McGraw comes from a unique perspective: a young man barely out of his teens himself, he also has grown up steeped in the tough-love life strategies training and wisdom of his father. Using real-life examples, and translating his dad's life rules into teenage-ese, young McGraw is able to reach a much more challenging audience--teens--as well as their parents, both of whom will appreciate his empathic straight talk and reality checks as they begin to find common ground again. (Ages 13 and older) --Emilie Coulter


From AudioFile
In a program aimed at parents and teens, the 22-year-old son of Dr. Phil, the well-known hard-hitting psychologist, gives us a remarkable lesson on getting through the high-risk years with your children. On top of sophisticated insights about typical parent-teen dilemmas, there's fabulous help with narrowing the communication gap, most of it delivered in a step-by-step format that stays comprehensible start to finish. Like his Dad, the author is a bit of a hot dog, but it's tolerable because the advice is so good. Also like Dad, Jay McGraw has a gift for promoting personal responsibility that is extraordinary. One of the best audios on the subject. T.W. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Book Description
Parents: Does your teen withdraw to his or her room at every opportunity? Does she talk with you about her friends? Does he participate in discussions at meals? Does your teen want you to see projects from school? When is the last time you actually went into your teen's room and looked at what's hanging on the walls and sitting on the shelves? Teens: Do your parents hide behind the newspaper? Do they always have to work when you've got a game, a recital, or an open house at school? Is there anything you do together anymore? When was the last time they took a walk, a bike ride, or even a trip to get ice cream with you? When did that sudden gap divide your home into territories staked and claimed, with music blasting through the halls and fists banging on doors to turn down the stereo/TV/video game? Teens, when did you start seeing your parents as your enemies instead of your heroes? And parents, when did you start seeing your teens as crazy little demons instead of your loving children? Finally, there is a solution for both sides, and one that will not only bridge that gap but show parents and teens alike how to prevent it. Jay McGraw is the ideal person to write a book for both parents and teens. A bestselling author by the age of twenty-one and son of number one New York Times bestseller Phillip C. McGraw, Ph.D., known to millions worldwide as Dr. Phil, Jay has seen the parent-teen battle from all angles. In this groundbreaking work, he introduces a new plan for both teens and their parents to work through the issues that divide them and, in the process, rediscover the love that initially defined their relationship. Jay works from both sides -- sharing the perspectives of parent and teen as the former struggles for control, the latter for independence. He explains to parents how their teenagers wish to be treated, cared for, and even disciplined, and he shows teens how gaining power can come only from earning respect. In this entertaining, informative, and life-changing book, Jay gives instructions to both sides of the familial gap on: Dos and Don'ts for Parents and Teens Parent and Teen Myths Discovering Your Needs Tuning In to the Needs of Others Ten Ways to Bridge the Gap and Reconnect In finding a common ground and, even more important, a common respect for each other, parents and teens can break down the walls, unlock the doors, and welcome each other back into one another's lives again.


About the Author
Jay McGraw is the author of the New York Times bestseller Life Strategies for Teens. He is currently enrolled at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He enjoys spending time with his friends and his younger brother, Jordan.


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In a program aimed at parents and teens, the 22-year-old son of Dr. Phil, the well-known hard-hitting psychologist, gives us a remarkable lesson on getting through the high-risk years with your children. On top of sophisticated insights about typical parent-teen dilemmas, there's fabulous help with narrowing the communication gap, most of it delivered in a step-by-step format that stays comprehensible start to finish. Like his Dad, the author is a bit of a hot dog, but it's tolerable because the advice is so good. Also like Dad, Jay McGraw has a gift for promoting personal responsibility that is extraordinary. One of the best audios on the subject. T.W. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine


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