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

Good parenting requires sacrifice. Childhood lasts for only a few brief years , but it should be given priority while it is passing before your eyes

Parents are the external regulator for kids who cannot regulate themselves.

Parenting style matters - a lot!

Children fare better when expectations on them are clear and firm.

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

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.

When a child is disregulated - is the time parents need to be regulated.

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

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

Learn more.

Depression – the stress “triggers”

 
THE STRESS “TRIGGERS”
 
“Bad” things happen to kids
                  – 1/2 of Canadian families go through divorce
                  – 1/4 of Canadian women report having been sexually abused
                  – parents, siblings, friends die
 
The overwhelmingly majority of children are remarkably resilient and emerge from the “bad” things relatively unscathed.
 
Those predisposed to anxiety and depression sometimes develop major depression after a stressful event.
 
 
 
Studies with animals corroborate this (mice, rats, monkeys)
                  – maternal deprivation
                  – social isolation
                  – maltreatment
                  ( these stressors caused changes in the structure and function of their brains similar to those
                   seen in adult humans with depression)
 
CHANGES  TO THE ADOLESCENT’S BRAIN
                                PLUS
THE STRESS CAUSED BY THEIR DEVELOPMENT TASKS
                            COINCIDE
WITH INCREASED RATES OF  MAJOR PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS 

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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

“He is a wealth of knowledge coupled with first hand experience.”

(E.K. – London)