A healthy rela­tion­ship based on mutu­al trust is every parent’s wish. The bond between infant and par­ent is a nat­ur­al phe­nom­e­non, but as chil­dren reach their pre­teens and form their own per­son­al­i­ties, fire­works between the child and par­ent can ensue. Draw­ing on 20 years of clin­i­cal expe­ri­ence and new the­o­ries on attach­ment, fam­i­ly ther­a­pist and con­sul­tant to Par­ents mag­a­zine Dr. Fran Wal­fish argues that par­ents need to dis­tin­guish their own per­son­al­i­ty types in order to make more informed deci­sions about how they inter­act and raise their own children.This step-by-step guide shows par­ents:* how to rec­og­nize the strength and weak­ness­es of your par­ent­ing style and how it affects your child;* the ways your style might clash with your child’s nature, and how to nego­ti­ate a com­mon ground;* the vital impor­tance of estab­lish­ing trust with a pre­teen to bet­ter pre­pare for tur­bu­lent teen years.Writ­ten with warmth, author­i­ty, and wit, Dr. Wal­fish holds a gen­tle mir­ror up to par­ents and helps them under­stand them­selves in order to cre­ate a clos­er rela­tion­ship with their child.