Try and Make Me!: A Revolutionary Program for Raising Your Defiant Child Without Losing Your Cool - Hardcover

Finally, here's a book that will address all these problems, plus help you overcome your child's defiant attitude, build your child's self-esteem, and restore the natural balance of power in your home. Try and Make Me! offers a common-sense approach to child-rearing that ends the madness, prevents future violence, and helps children become the cooperative and well-adjusted "big people" they innately want to be.

Longtime child therapists Ray Levy and Bill O'Hanlon first explore the various ways a child becomes defiant-- some are born that way; some take their clues from their parents. Then, the authors center in on control-who has it, what it means to the defiant child, and how adults like you can regain it in a way that actually helps your child grow. For example, don't always try to stop your child from making mistakes--he needs to make them to grow.

Next, you'll Learn how to use Levy and O'Hanlon's seven-step program for changing behavior. From targeting a specific behavior you want to alter to keeping track of progress in a journal, this easy-to-follow plan will give you the confidence you need to press on and will make a profound difference in the life of your child and yourself.

Try and Make Me! emphasizes the importance of avoiding power struggles with children and provides many clever ways to do so, including proven techniques such as "Brain-Dead Phrases," "Academies," "Guided Compliance," and "Pulling in the Reins." These approaches will put an end to the screaming battles and teach your child that behaving is in his best interest, not yours.

Packed with enlightening anecdotes, both personal and professional, Try and Make Me! will make you laugh, cry, and nod in recognition. Its infectious hopefulness will give you courage to persist even when hope seems lost. Read this book, follow its advice, then watch the tension subside and your relationship with your child flourish.

About the Author Ray Levy, Ph.D.is a child and family therapist who lectures frequently on children's issues. He has established three clinics specializing in the treatment of defiant children and children with Attention Deficity Hyperactivity Disorder. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

Bill O'Hanlon, M.S., is a marriage and family therapist and the author of 18 books, including Do One Thing Different and Love is a Verb. He lectures extensively in the U.S. and abroad and has appeared on The Today Show and Oprah. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Tyler Norris Goode is a freelance writer living in Clyde, North Carolina.

Stop Problem Behavior in Its Tracks

Try and Make Me!

"The authors' well-integrated program helps frustrated parents avoid futile battles and take loving but firm charge of their difficult children. I will recommend this book to the parents of my own defiant young patients."--Barbara D. Ingersoll, Ph.D., author of Your Hyperactive Child and Attention Deficit Disorders and Learning Disabilities

No more bargaining over TV time! * No more whining from the back seat! * And no more feeling guilty when your problem child misbehaves!

In this book, esteemed child therapists Ray Levy, Ph.D., and Bill O'Hanlon, M.S., offer a revolutionary approach to parenting that's guaranteed to reverse your difficult child's behavior-- now. You'll receive advice on...

* How you unwittingly may be triggering your child's defiance
* The keys to turning off back talk
* Using consequences to motivate your child to change
* How to use the authors' special Academies technique to teach good behavior...and much more!

"Written in a conversational style, this book is replete with useful methods that parents can employ with difficult or defiant children. This is a truly helpful manual for parents seeking time-tested strategies for improving their relationships with their children."--Russell A. Barkley, professor of psychiatry and neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and the author of Your Defiant Child: 8 Steps to Better Behavior

"In a very clear, compassionate, sensible, and humorous way, Try and Make Me! outlines realistic guidelines and strategies for helping defiant youngsters become more cooperative and less oppositional. I recommend this book highly not only for parents of defiant children but for teachers and mental health professionals who work with these youngsters and their families. It is an invaluable resource."--Robert Brooks, Ph.D., assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School and author of The Self-Esteem Teacher