The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness: Five Steps to Help Kids Create and Sustain Lifelong Joy - Hardcover

Hallowell, Edward M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345442326 ISBN 13: 9780345442321

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 2002

Synopsis

Outlining a five-step plan that parents can use to help their children achieve lifelong happiness, the co-author of Driven to Distraction emphasizes the role of connection, play, practice, mastery, and recognition in raising youngsters with a healthy self-esteem, moral awareness, and spiritual values that hold the key to fostering trust, respect, and joy.

About this title

About the Author

<b>Edward M. Hallowell, M.D.</b>, is an instructor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Sudbury, Massachusetts, an outpatient treatment center serving children and adults with a wide range of emotional and learning problems. He is the coauthor of <i>Driven to Distraction </i>(with John J. Ratey, M.D.) and the author of <i>When You Worry About the Child You Love</i>, <i>Worry</i>, and <i>Connect</i>, among other titles. He and his wife have three children and they live in Arlington, Massachusetts. He welcomes hearing from readers, and can be reached through his Web site: www.DrHallowell.com.

From the Inside Flap

Here, at last, is a book brimming with the good news of raising children—the basic reassuring news about happiness and unconditional love, about enduring family connections and kids who grow up right. Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., father of three and a clinical psychiatrist, has thought long and hard about what makes children feel good about themselves and the world they live in. Now, in <i>The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness</i>, Dr. Hallowell shares his findings with all of us who care about children. <br><br>As Dr. Hallowell argues, we don’t need statistical studies or complicated expert opinions to raise children. What we <i>do</i> need is love, wonder, and the confidence to trust our instincts. This inspiring book outlines a 5-step plan that all parents can use in giving their children the gift of happiness that will last a lifetime. Connection, play, practice, mastery, and recognition: as fundamental as these five concepts are, they hold the key to raising children with healthy self-esteem, moral awareness, and spiritual values. Dr. Hallowell explores each step in depth and shows how they work together to foster trust, respect, and joy.<br><br>Privilege, wealth, and expensive “extras” are <i>not</i> necessary for happiness—there are many stories here of children who have overcome poverty, abandonment, and shocking deprivation to find true fulfillment. Dr. Hallowell encourages us as parents to reconnect with the moments in our own childhoods that made a difference; he explores the impact of genetics and environmental factors on the inner workings of a child’s mind; and he discusses how activities like team sports, community service, religious observance, and household chores can foster a child’s sense of mastery. <br><br>Like the works of T. Berry Brazelton and Benjamin Spock, <i>The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness </i>is infused with the wisdom and humanity of a doctor who truly loves and understands children. Writing with the warmth of a friend and the authority of an expert, Dr. Hallowell gives us a book at once practical and exuberant, joyous and informative, eye-opening and reassuring. Ultimately, this book is a celebration of childhood and of the magic that happens between parents and the children they love.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0345442326
• ISBN 13: 9780345442321
• Binding: Hardcover