welcome image

"Cutting" is a visible sign to the world that you are hurting.

Adolescence can be the cruelest place on earth. It can really be heartless.  ( Tori Amos)

Parenting style matters - a lot!

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

The quickest way to change your child’s behaviour is to first change your own.

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

You cannot reason with someone who is being unreasonable.

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)

Criticism is not a motivator.

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

Learn more.

So what is the best advice regarding meds for ADD/ADHD?

James Garbarino (a noted  American psychologist) answers that question this way:

“When prescribed for very specific conditions after a thorough exploration of psychological and social conditions in the child’s life, and with appreciation that the principal interventions needed for such children are behavioural and intellectual, some drugs make sense. However, the overall pattern in the western world does not generally meet these standards. There is too much prescription, too little in-depth diagnosis, too little effort to help the social environment change to meet the legitamate needs of children, and too few professionals with the psychiatric knowledge needed to justify the use of drugs as they are currently employed.”

You will of course find contradictory advice from equally qualified experts as Dr. Garbarino but my observations over the years tells me that many children are being medicated  without proper evaluations. I have worked with many children who have been prescribed strong medications based on a 10 minute doctor’s visit.

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

“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)