One hundred years of research and science has given rise to a new, yet verifiable, truth - some of the world's most popular child-rearing methods, long believed to be harmless alternatives to spanking, drive deep divisions in parent-child relationships and cause lasting damage to children's self-esteem. These methods include punishments (such as yelling, threats, timeouts, grounding, revoking privileges and docking pocket money), as well as rewards (such as star charts, bribery and praise.) And, yet, for many parents, these methods seem to be the only thing keeping their households from dissolving into utter chaos. Take away their most useful parenting tools and how can they expect their homes to function properly? How do they enforce limits or end conflict or maintain any semblance of authority or control?

Built around ten fundamental truths that explain why children behave the way they do (often at the most inopportune times!), PARENTSHIFT argues that only one child-rearing model - a model the authors call heart-centred - is capable of giving children what they need while honouring their ages, stages and natural temperaments. Other popular models rely on tactics that work against these truths which, often, undermine parents' efforts and sabotage their goals. The fallout can be devastating.

Providing brand-new toolkits and a skill set that will enhance not only one's parenting. but one's life, PARENTSHIFT shows parents how to set and enforce limits, deal with out-of-control behaviour, motivate children to live by the Golden Rule and solve virtually any problem - from toddler to teen - while maintaining a strong relationship and preserving each child's sense of self-worth.