The Available Parent

We have a tendency today to over-parent, micromanage, andunderappreciate our adolescents. Dr. John Duffy’s The Available Parent isa revolutionary approach to taking care of teens and tweens.

Teenagers are often left feeling unheard and misunderstood,and parents are left feeling bewildered by the changes in their child atadolescence and by their sudden lack of effectiveness as parents. The parenthas become unavailable, the teen responds in kind, and a negative, oftendestructive cycle of communication begins. The available parent of a teenageris open to discussion, offering advice and solutions but not insisting on them.He allows his child to make some mistakes, setting limits, primarily wherehealth and safety are concerned. He never lectures—he is available but notcontrolling. He is neither cruel nor dismissive, ever. The available parent isfun and funny and can bring levity to the most stressful situation. All of thatis to say, there are no conditions to his availability—it is absolute.