Raising Children to Thrive

 After running a private practice for forty-eight years, psychologist Dr. Ronald Ruff has created an essential resource for parents who are searching for evidence-based, best practice models to help them raise happy, kind and self-aware kids. “Raising Children to Thrive: Affect Hunger & Responsive, Sensitive Parenting” (June 11, 2024) is an evidence-based guide to help parents bring up their children to thrive socially and emotionally during all phases of life.

In this world of information overload and constant distraction, parents are experiencing an urgent need for direction on how to raise their children based on the cutting-edge science of child development. New research shows that infants possess considerable social and emotional capacity to engage their parents in ways that run far deeper than ever before realized.

Throughout Dr. Ron Ruff’s nearly fifty years of clinical practice as a psychologist, he encountered thousands of parents with only good intentions to help their children. Unfortunately, many did not know where to turn for information, support, and answers related to raising their children to become emotionally healthy adults. In “Raising Children to Thrive,” Ruff explores affect hunger, an emotional craving for maternal love, protection and care, and how this longing can be used to create a strong nurturing relationship.

Responsive, sensitive parenting is more than just a goal — it is a framework for parents who are ready to reimagine the nature of the parent-infant relationship, significantly boost their children’s social and emotional development, and raise their children to thrive.

Ronald Ruff, Ph.D. received a B.A. in Psychology with French studies from Oberlin College, an M.S. in Counseling Psychology from George Williams College, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Illinois Institute of Technology. He began working with children and parents in 1969, started his private practice in 1974, and continued until 2017.

During his 48 years of practice, he has had extensive experience in psychological treatment, assessment, and consultation in health care, education, government, judicial systems, training, teaching, and research. He has worked with all age groups and diagnostic classifications throughout his career. Ruff has conducted individual, group, family, and marital therapy and psychological evaluations within outpatient and inpatient psychiatric hospital settings. He has consulted with many school districts and the state department of welfare, and was psychologist for a juvenile court, community mental health center, and juvenile detention center. He has served as an expert witness in many cases involving the personality functioning of children, adolescents, and adults.

Ruff was awarded a fellowship to the Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry and Cambridge Hospital, Center for Addictive Studies. He was clinical director of a residential treatment center for children, director of Clinical Internship Training, and an adjunct instructor who taught psychology doctoral students the core sequence of objective and personality testing, report writing and psychotherapy. Ruff has considerable experience working with culturally, racially, educationally and socioeconomically diverse populations.

He has been married for 53 years and has three daughters and four grandchildren.