Hi everyone!
My name is Brian Rees and I’m a child/adolescent/young adult therapist with a private practice in the heart of Dallas/Ft. Worth, and I’ve treated thousands of kids over the past 12 years. Here’s what I know. There are kids who have problems. So all day long, every day, I listen to these kids, and help these kids solve their personal problems. Latest findings from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention state approximately one in three children suffer from some kind of mental/behavioral disorder. Some of the things they struggle with are issues we wouldn’t have seen in the past, while some of the difficulties I see in my office are timeless.
Let me tell you what this blog is about, or better yet, what it isn’t. I do happen to be a dad, but I also happen to be a clinician; therefore, what I’ll share with you isn’t going to be a bunch of synthesized, regurgitated parenting tips, or funny stories about my kids, or clever ways to try to get you to relate to me and what I think I know, and how what I know is more insightful that what you know – there are plenty of other blogs or books or podcasts for that. What I’m offering is a dedicated professional’s take about how to be the best parent possible, regardless of what your child is like, or what issues he or she might happen to deal with.
I’ve called this blog The Parenting Script because there is a script, and I’ll help you implement it. Creating an effective formula that can be generally applied to almost every parent-child duo wasn’t a walk in the park. And let me say this, there are certain parents who unfortunately will not apply this method of parenting because of their own issues or shortcomings. As much as I’ve tried to teach them how to understand their kid and communicate successfully, these short-sighted parent’s rigid, obtuse personalities get in the way. Thankfully those are rare cases and most adults can learn this model and become awesome parents.
The only other major hurdle I experience in my office with this strategy is the clinical severity of the child’s issues – sometimes his or her problems are too extreme and more intensive help is needed. If that’s the situation, I refer the parents to the appropriate treatment modality.
I’m just now completing a book called It All Starts at Home: How to Parent the 21st Century Kid. It’ll be in print by this year or early next year – it depends on the publisher. The majority of posts in this blog will contain short excerpts from the book, real world examples of today’s issues I treat in my office, effective ways to implement the model, and a ‘comments section’ so we can correspond.
Based on other parenting blogs, podcasts, and books I’ve experienced, there are a number of obvious points we professionals (and the non-professionals) feel compelled to address. But there are some glaring variations in how we approach these necessary areas, and certainly a stark contrast between ways to manage the most common parent-child affairs. My model and tone avoids doctoral self-righteousness, and as stated earlier, I won’t inundate you with countless parenting ‘techniques’. I combine actual case studies with straightforward information and comprehensive explanations, place a huge emphasis on empowerment and self-confidence, and I demonstrate the kind of interactive parenting that’s most effective with any kid, regardless of the issue, the child’s age, or how that youngster is hard-wired.
If you’re having some type of issue(s) with your child (which is why most parents spend their valuable time seeking information), this blog will focus on what’s causing your kiddo to not meet reasonable expectations, as well as how to address the negative behavior. In other words, nearly all children know what’s right/wrong, good/bad, reasonable/unreasonable, and fair/unfair, and that’s because they’ve been taught those concepts all their lives and have a built-in moral compass. I’ll help you learn how to look at your offspring objectively and communicate with him or her more effectively, thus compelling that child to want to be compliant, make good choices, and grow in self-worth. The key to good parenting and a happy, healthy kid is found in the fundamental relationship between parent and child, which can be cultivated and finessed at every stage of parent-child interaction.
So thanks for joining me. Hopefully I’ll be able to offer you some valuable councel throughout you trek as a parent, and I’ll post every other week.
See ya soon,
Brian Rees, PhD