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Relationships matter:  change comes through forming trusting relationships. People, not programs change people.

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

Children do not develop on their own - they only develop within relationships.

Setting limits teaches your children valuable skills they will use the rest of their lives. One day, they will report to a job where their ability to follow rules will dictate their success.

Many clinicians find it easier to tell parents their child has a brain-based disorder than suggest parenting changes. Jennifer Harris (psychiatrist)

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.

Early intervention is always better than crisis management - but it is never too late to do the right thing.

"Parents aren't the cause of ADHD, but they are part of the solution." (Kenny Handleman, M.D.)

There has been an explosion in the prescribing of medication for very young children, particularly preschool and kindergarten boys (Juli Zito , Univ. of Maryland)

Parenting style matters - a lot!

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Contributing Factors to Teen Depression

Contributing Factors to Depression
1. Genes                – there is a genetic component
                                – most children of depressed parents do not become depressed but there is an increased risk
                                                                         
2. Brain chemicals – it is believed that serotonin & norepinephrine are involved
 
3. Kindling – once brain gets used to thinking in    depressed ways it becomes progressively easier to slip into this pattern
 
4. Life Stress       – stress becomes too great
                                – perceived as inescapable
 
5. Learned Helplessness – interferes with desire to help    oneself
 
6. Past experiences – relevant to the extent that it affects  current thinking, feelings, & behaviours
 
7. Hormones – puberty, birth control pills
 
8. Lack of sunlight – SAD 

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

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

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+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

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

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+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

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+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

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

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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

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Parents' Comments

“We are foster parents who took in a 13 year old girl (going on 18!) and she ran us through the wringer. Rick helped us learn how to set limits that made the difference.”

(G.E. – Strathroy)