Self-Compassion for Parents: How to Raise a Happy Child While Taking Care of Yourself

A book that will help you raise happy children in an atmosphere of love and harmony, based on the principles of self-compassion and mindfulness.

Susan Pollack, a psychologist with over 30 years of experience and a mother of two, knows from personal experience that raising children is not easy. In an effort to give their child the best, parents often enter into an endless competition for the title of "perfect mom" or "perfect dad." They forget about themselves and as a result feel tired and burned out, take it out on their children, and then scold themselves for it.

This book will help you get out of such a trap and step by step build new relationships with yourself and your loved ones. Relationships filled with love, care and attention not only to your loved ones, but also to yourself. Support yourself as you would support a friend in a difficult life situation. Comfort yourself as you would comfort your crying baby. Say to yourself the words of sympathy that you would say to your loved one. Hug yourself tighter.

Susan Pollack shares simple, effective exercises that will help you develop these qualities. Each exercise will take no more than three minutes a day (like brushing your teeth). It’s not the duration that’s important, but the regularity (remember: like brushing your teeth?). In addition, you don’t have to sit still to practice mindfulness. You can practice mindfulness while walking, waiting in line, driving, lying in bed, even while changing a diaper. You don’t have to be alone and quiet in a meditation room or on top of a mountain to do this. This is something that should be part of your crazy life when you’re trying to do everything in 24 hours as a parent. When you need it most.

Parents will have an even easier time mastering the principle of self-compassion than others, because their whole life is a combination of overcoming and empathy. They just need to turn the vector of their empathy 180 degrees, direct it toward themselves, and be surprised to discover how much their lives and family relationships have improved.

Short, effective exercises to help develop self-compassion and mindfulness.

A list of "first aid" tools for crisis situations - from infant colic and tantrums to sibling rivalry and teenage rebellion.

The exercises are based on the results of many years of scientific research and a special course "Mindful Self-Compassion" developed by Chris Germer and Kristin Neff.

The author, Susan Pollack, is a clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience and a mother of two.

Who is the book for:
For parents on the verge of a nervous breakdown who are trying to regain control of the situation and bring peace to the family

For those who are planning to become parents and want to understand how to raise happy children and not go crazy

For everyone who wants to enjoy communication with their family and fill their relationships with peace and joy

From the author:

Parenting is hard for everyone. No matter what we do, it’s never good enough. The day never goes the way we planned. And then we blame ourselves, criticize our children, put pressure on them, and try to control everything even more. As a Harvard graduate, psychologist, mother of two adult children, and a specialist with 30 years of clinical experience, I have worked with many parents and children. And I have read many books on how to raise children. Often it comes down to how to fix children, how to make them listen, how to get enough sleep, how to help them get into a good college and ensure their success. In other words, how to make them the way we want them to be. Very few people succeed.

This book brings together my many years of experience as a parent, clinical worker, and meditator. The theoretical and scientific foundation of the book is the revolutionary work of my colleagues Dr. Chris Germer and Christina Neff, the authors of the transformative course on Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), which I have been teaching since its inception in 2010. In addition to the MSC course, which has already been taken by tens of thousands of people, in this guide for parents you will find stories and examples from my clinical practice with parents and children and my own parenting experience. All the stories are supplemented by exercises and reflections based on my understanding of effective methods and the experience of many people who have benefited from these exercises.

Mindfulness and self-compassion are within everyone’s reach: you don’t have to be a vegan, a sugar-free person, or a coffee-free person. You can be wired, tired as hell, distracted, and irritable. You can be whatever you want. You can be yourself. If you breathe (and you undoubtedly are right now), you can do it.

Author: Susan Pollack
Translation: Maria Chomakhidze-Doronina
Year of release: 2021
Publisher: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber
Pages: 272
Cover type: Hardcover
Dimensions: 212x145x15 mm
ISBN: 978-5-00169-797-8