Bring Out the BEST in Your Child and Your Self

Family life becomes so much easier and more rewarding when parents learn how to create an environment of mutual respect. Children want to be cooperative and responsible; difficult behavior is a cry for help. We help our children best when we learn how to remain calm and centered in the face of stress.

Family life becomes so much easier when parents learn how to create an environment of mutual respect. In this proven program developed over twenty-five years, parents gain a new understanding: beneath the surface, children and teens actually want to be cooperative. Difficult behavior is their cry for help. Children want us to help them to grow. We’re on the same team—and that changes everything. Step by step, parents gain the skills to remain calm and centered, to prevent problems before they happen and to create a truly fulfilling family experience. Dr. Val-Essen supports readers with compassion, stories of real families and humorous illustrations. As parents learn to recognize and bring out the best in their children and teens, they inevitably discover the best within themselves.

Ilene Val-Essen, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized leader in the field of parent education. A featured speaker at national and international conferences, Dr. Val-Essen trains professionals and leads workshops for parents in the United States, Asia and Europe. Her Quality Parenting Program, which has been translated into Spanish, Swedish and Dutch, helps parents create an environment of mutual respect. As parents learn to bring out the best in each child and express the best within themselves, they discover that family life can be so much easier and more rewarding. For more than three decades, Dr. Val-Essen has been in private practice as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Culver City, CA.