I Still Love You: Nine Things Troubled Kids Need from Their Parents

by Michael Ungar

Overview

Therapist Michael Ungar uses the struggles of three families and his own history to help the parents of difficult children.

Family therapist Michael Ungar, internationally renowned for his work on child and youth resilience, takes us into his world each Wednesday, when he meets with three families with very troubled children. Here, Michael shares a side of himself that is not the all-knowing therapist: he too was a troubled teen, growing up in an emotionally and physically abusive home.

In the book, Michael shares nine things that all troubled kids need from their parents that will help them turn their lives around and flourish: 

• Structure 
• Consequences 
• Parent-child connections 
• Lots of peer and adult relationships 
• A powerful identity 
• A sense of control
• A sense of belonging, spirituality, and life purpose 
• Fair and just treatment by others 
• Safety and support 

Hopeful in tone, and using knowledge gathered from Michael’s work around the world, I Still Love You shows that it is never too late to help our children change and reconnect with those who will always love them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459729834
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	11/25/2014
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Michael Ungar is a professor of social work and a marriage and family therapist based at Dalhousie University. He is internationally recognized for his work in more than a dozen countries on resilience and at-risk youth, and appears regularly on radio and television. Michael lives in Halifax.

Table of Contents

Disclaimer: The Children and Their Families 9

Prologue: No More Problem Children 11

1 A Group for Good Parents with Difficult Kids 15

2 My Father's Cancer 21

3 Three Principles 26

4 Three "Problem" Children 34

5 The Last Problem Child Group Begins 44

6 The First Thing Children Need - Structure 58

7 The Second Thing Children Need - Consequences 71

8 The Third Tiling Children Need - Parent-Child Connections 87

9 The Fourth Thing Children Need - Lots and Lots of Relationships 102

10 The Fifth Thing Children Need - A Powerful Identity 115

11 The Sixth Thing Children Need - A Sense of Control 128

12 The Seventh Thing Children Need - A Sense of Belonging, Spirituality, and Life Purpose 149

13 The Eighth Thing Children Need - Rights and Responsibilities 161

14 The Ninth Thing Children Need - Safety and Support 179

15 Endings and New Beginnings 190

16 A Last Visit Home 201

What People are Saying About This

Ann Douglas

"Michael Ungar, Ph.D., is back with another thought-provoking, practical book for parents of preteens and teens who are suffering.… A compassionate and realistic parenting guide."

Katy Hutchison

"Inspired, practical, and honest, I Still Love You is a handbook that belongs on every family's bookshelf."