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The challenge of adolescence is to balance the right of the parents to feel they are in charge with the need of the adolescent to gain independence.

If there is no relationship - nothing else matters !

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

The best inheritance  parents can give their children is a few minutes of their time each day.

Hurt people hurt people.

Children today are under enormous pressures rarely experienced by their parents or grandparents. Many of today's children are being enticed to grow up too quickly and are encountering challenges for which they are totally unprepared.

Parenting style matters - a lot!

If it  was going to be easy to raise kids, it never would have started with something called "labour".

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

"Rules without relationship leads to rebellion" (Josh McDowell)

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“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

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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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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

“Our daughter was the joy of our life until she turned 13, then all hell broke loose. Rick helped us understand what was happening to her and we made some adjustments that helped us get through it. She’s now in University and doing well.”

(D.A. – St. Thomas)