welcome image

If you (parents) tend to overreact to your child's misbehaviour - your child learns that he can't trust you. Mom, Dad, stay regulated!

We should not medicate the boys so they fit the school; we should change the school to fit the boy. (Leonard Sax, M.D. Ph.D)

Whining and crying are employed by kids for the purpose of getting something. If it works, then it was worth the effort and will be repeated.

You cannot reason with someone who is being unreasonable.

"Moody" and "unpredictable" are adjectives parents will often use when referring to their teenagers.

Children mimic well. They catch what they see better than they follow what they hear.

The teenage years require a delicate balance between the young person's need to gain independence, and the parent's need to retain authority.

"Unexpressed feeling never die. They are buried alive and come back later in ugly ways." (Stephen Covey)

The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice. (Peggy O'Mara)

Some hope their children will be like sponges soaking up the truth and wisdom imparted by their parents. However appealing this philosophy might be, it seldom seems to catch on with their children.

Learn more.

“DOOM” by Lori – age 15

DOOM                                       by Lori – age 15
                                    The only visible light          
                                    Into darkness
                                    The only relief is
                                    Cut into my flesh
                                    As deep as sadness
                                    Pain passes away
                                    But I will be left with the scars
                                    From the past
 
                                    I hear vividly the sounds
                                    The screams.
                                    I am but a bug
                                    Invisible to life
                                    Picked on when sought.
                                    Pain is an addiction
                                    The only life I’ve known.
 
                                    Blood returns me to life
                                    But at any mistake may turn me away
                                    Sadness is but a dream,
                                    Supplied by the haunted past.
                                    Shame upon the head
                                    Grows older into endless time.
                                    Until the next time
                                    I wait in endless time
                                    For the end.
 
This poem was written by a 15 year old girl suffering from:
                  – depression
                  – anxiety disorder
 
She was “cutting” and experiencing significant school problems
 
The poem suggests she feels:
                  – insignificant
                  – numb
                  – alone
                  – detached
                  – suicidal

Back to Top

Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

Learn more

+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

Learn more

+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

Learn more

+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

Learn more

See more of our workshops


Contact

2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

Archive


Parents' Comments

“Implementing Rick’s techniques and adhering to them is exhausting, but it is a healthy exhaustion rather than the detrimental exhaustion I used to experience.”

(B.F. – Woodstock)