"In this exciting new book, Dr. Townsend gives important keys for establishing healthy boundaries—the bedrock of good relationships, maturity, safety, and growth for teens and the adults in their lives.
The book offers help in raising your teens to take responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and emotions."
PUBLICATION: DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DATE: 03-11-2006
HEADLINE: REVIEWER'S CHOICE

It happens to us all: Those loving, usually compliant preteens turn without warning into beings from another planet distant, defiant, determined to go their own way. What are parents to do, short of tearing their hair out in despair?

Set boundaries, John Townsend advises, in this wise, been-there-done- that book for parents of teenagers. Using his experience as a psychologist and father of two teens, Dr. Townsend advises parents on how to provide structure and give teens the self-control to become responsible adults.

The spiritually based principles he advocates are easy to grasp and implement. First, he says, parents must come to terms with what they went through in adolescence and set boundaries in their own lives if they are lacking. That way, he says, teens have a role model for maturity, grace and truth.

Parents also must find a balance between their "need for control and their teens' urge for freedom.

The book provides chapters on dealing with common problems such as academic failures, breaking agreements, cur few violations, peers and even drugs and alcohol and sexual involvement. It also gives ad\ice on how to seek professional help if all else fails.