The A-Z of Therapeutic Parenting: Strategies and Solutions 

By Sarah Naish

{A Book Review} By Beth Edwards

“When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they’re finished, I climb out.” – Erma Bombeck

Metal scooters hurt. I know this because after being told he couldn’t ride a Tonka truck down the slide, my son swung one in full force at my shin. I took a deep breath and looked at his face only to see that he looked as shocked as I felt. He’s just a little guy with really big emotions who needed help navigating through this most recent injustice.

Kids are geniuses at reinventing the wheel and challenging us to parent them in ways that keep and reinforce our bond while helping them learn how to handle angry feelings along with happier ones. No parent is perfect and when we brought our first adopted child home, I needed more detailed ways to handle her behaviors, so I went on the hunt and found a book that has helped me immensely.

The a-z of Therapeutic Parenting: Strategies and Solutions by Sarah Naish may seem like common sense, but her expertise as an adoptive mom to 5 siblings, former Social Worker, CEO of The Centre of Excellence in Child Trauma, and several other titles becomes obvious as the book is laid out with behaviors listed alphabetically for easy reference along with why it might be happening, how to handle it in the moment, how to prevent it in the future, and how to deal with it after it’s all over. Even an experienced parent can benefit from her knowledge.

Every situation is different and Naish gives solid ways to handle them, but by using her basic principles (P-pause, A-assess, R-reflect, E-empathize, N-nurture, T-think, S-self care) with the specific ways of handling anger, both my son and I came out on the other side still very bonded. And, while I don’t enjoy those moments, I feel capable of handling them. Oh, full disclosure…the scooter lives in the garage now.

It is important to fill your ‘toolbox’ with a variety of go-to resources to have at your fingertips on your adoptive parenting journey, and this book should definitely be included!