The Good Enough Teen

The ages twelve to eighteen are often the most challenging and trying years for adolescents--and their parents. No other phase of life is characterized by so much physical and psychological change happening so quickly. The Good Enough Teen shows you how to see your child's evolution as a window of opportunity--for you, for your child, and for your entire family. Rather than having you brace for your offspring's adolescence with your eyes shut and your jaw clenched, this book will help you to understand the invisible transformation teens are experiencing, as well as the ways in which your own adolescence intimately influences this understanding. You will find yourself better able to see even your child's most exasperating behaviors as steps in his or her striving towards maturity, rather than chronic problems or mean-spirited efforts designed to make you miserable.

The Good Enough Teen presents a developmental overview of what parents can expect from their children during adolescence, then delineates the four stages in the journey towards accepting a child for who he or she is. With prescriptive tools and strategies for parents, including checklists, quizzes, and exercises, and numerous case studies from the author's own practice, The Good Enough Teen is vital help for any parent with a teenager.