Good Enough Parenting

A Six-Point Plan for a Stronger Relationship with Your Child (APA Life Tools)

By: Dr. Timothy A. Cavell PhD, Lauren B. Quetsch

Narrated by: Dr. Timothy A. Cavell PhD, Lauren B. Quetsch

A parent’s job unfolds and shifts over time. Concerns about sleep become worries about tantrums; anxieties about sharing become fears about grades and acting out in school. These concerns are natural, but many parents struggle to handle it all. Some feel drained, some lash out, and some feel like the worst parents in the world.

This book offers parents a six-step program to build a stronger relationship with their child. It teaches parents how to set parenting goals, prioritize their own emotional health, and create a structure for their family. Having laid that three-step foundation, parents learn the importance of accepting their child for who they are, containing their behavior, and acting as a leader. Prioritizing these six areas and making a plan for them will allow listeners to parent proactively rather than reactively and focus on what matters most. Written for parents of children from toddlers to teens, this book gives parents a science-based plan to help their children grow up to be emotionally healthy adults.

©2022 American Psychological Association (P)2023 Recorded Books

Practical advice for parents looking to focus on what matters

Book is easy to listen to and has some practical advice. There are many worksheets, so I purchased the paper copy too. I do recommend!

A good summary but has questionable parts

This book does a good job simplifying values aims and techniques of parenting but occasionally has questionable viewpoints.

For example, it still encouraged the use of time-outs even though “Parenting experts have criticized the timeout technique in recent years, saying that it might neglect a child's emotional needs. Most experts agree that punishment is harmful to a child's emotional development and that isolation — the defining quality of the timeout technique — is a form of punishment.”