Parenting Under Fire

Teaches parents of children of all ages who are hurt, angry, rejecting, and distant (HARD) how to effectively and empathically communicate through a variety of effective and empathic strategies.
Children who are hurt, angry, rejecting, and distant (HARD) can be challenging to parent. They can be rude, uncooperative, and disagreeable. They are hard to relate to or connect with, and they can appear to be hardened to the love and guidance of their parent. Whether hard children are caught in a loyalty conflict, are victims of parental alienation, or behaving this way for some other reason, their parents need help! Losing or feeling like you are about to lose a relationship with a beloved child, regardless of the cause, is one of the most painful scenarios a parent will ever experience. Such parents feel under fire! How to handle such children before relationships are further damaged is a question many parents have. Should the parent pick their battles or put their foot down? Should they pursue the child or let the child come to them? This book provides parents of a hurt, angry, rejecting distant child the much needed guidance and support they need to connect with their children and repair relationships while opening the lines of communication.The book is divided into three sections, each focusing on a different form of communication. In the first section, the focus is on in-person communication and interactions, the second teaches parents the whys and hows of communicating via messages, and the final portion walks parents through the principles and mechanics of writing letters to an older hurt, angry, rejecting, distant child in an effort to bridge gaps and repair wounds. This book provides the reader with the science-based hope and inspiration they need as well as hundreds of practical suggestions about how to keep the communication loving, appropriate, and connected.
Amy Baker, PhD, is the author or co-author of 10 books and over 120 articles on topics related to children’s well-being, psychological maltreatment, children of divorce, and parental alienation. She lives in Teaneck, NJ, and conducts research, training, and individual coaching for parents. Paul R. Fine, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with over four decades providing individual, family and group therapy. He works in a community mental health center, providing an eclectic humanistic approach to problems faced by his clients.

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