Child and adolescent psychology is a complex and fascinating subject — one that’s not always easy to understand. Textbooks on the subject may leave you confused and wishing you had a clear overview to tie everything together. The answer to that wish is right here.
Covering all the leading theories and schools of thought, along with new research in all areas of child growth and development, this comprehensive guide gives you everything you need to know about the emotional and psychical factors that contribute to the way young people think and behave.
My son will be 14 this year and I have never felt more lost as a parent than when he began to bloom into his teenage years, half the time I am asking myself, “What was he thinking??” Teenagers have so many things to deal with between school, hormones, peer pressure, friends, relationships and home. Their responsibilities become greater the more they take on, their stress rises as they try to meet the expectation of growing up and as they evolve into themselves it leaves some of us parents wondering what is going on; especially me.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Child & Adolescent Psychology has been a great tool in helping me to get a better window into what is going on with my son. It covers everything from Child Behavior, Age Groups (Birth – 18 years), Parent-Child Relationship, Moral & Cognitive Development, Learning Disorders, Mental Disorders, Family Therapy and much more. In fact, anything you could imagine to have a question about, there is more than likely information in this book. It had succeeded in answering all of my questions and leading me to places that contained more information to study upon; along with Online Communities.
@CIG_Health: What are some genetic traits that influence a child’s personality and how?@VCpsych: IQ, sociability, extroversion, even obesity and alcoholism are inheritable to a moderate degree. New research says the genetically sensitive child and positive nurturing outshines genetically ‘stronger? child and negative nurturing. Sensitive in this case means he/she has potentially weaker genes, but may also contain seed of creativity.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Child & Adolescent Psychology is a great resource. It is broken up into parts so that it is easier to navigate, with a How to Use This Book at the very beginning. The parts of the book are:
- Part 1, Discovering Childhood
- Part 2, Foundations of Personality
- Part 3, A Child is Part of a Family
- Part 4, The Big Picture
- Part 5, Ages and Stages
- Part 6, Issues in Child Psychology
- Part 7, Therapeutic Approaches in Child Psychology
You will also find Definitions, Field Studies, Insight and Advice to avoid misinterpretation. Jack Westman M.D., M.S. is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, teacher and advocate for children and families. He served as Director of Child Psychiatry Division of the Department of Psychiatry in University of Wisconsin and has published 10 books and over 140 professional articles. He has three sons, a handful of grandchildren and a great personal belief in what he is teaching. Together with Victoria Costello, an Emmy award winning writer and blogger of Awakening Psyche, they’ve made an amazing book that has helped me and will help you tremendously in understanding certain aspects of your children.
We may never know everything that goes on in the minds of our children. I was once a teenager that didn’t believe my parents knew anything about me, I suppose in some ways this has a honesty to it. However, I feel as a parent it’s my job to at least be able to say to my sons, “I get it, I know what you are going through.” That is why I look towards books like The Complete Guide to Child & Adolescent Psychology, so that I may understand it on a parental level instead of what I perceived as as a once-upon-a-time adolescent.
Connect:
You can connect with The Complete Idiot’s Guide on Facebook, @IdiotsGuides on Twitter and/or follow/subscribe to Victoria Costello’s blog! You can also read the entire Tweet Chat with Jack C. Westman M.D., M.S. here.
Buy It!
You can buy the Complete Idiots Guide to Child & Adolescent Psychology for $13.63 on Amazon.
I received samples for the purpose of reviewing. Opinions expressed are my own or my families and are not influenced by any form of compensation. Take it or leave it. Click here to view my full acknowledgment policy.
