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Kenneth Barish Ph.D.

About

Kenneth Barish, Ph.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is also on the faculty of the Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and the William Alanson White Institute Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program. He is the author of Pride and Joy: A Guide to Understanding Your Child's Emotions and Solving Family Problems.

Pride and Joy is Winner of the 2013 International Book Award in the Parenting and Family category and the 2013 Eric Hoffer Book Award in the Home category.

Pride and Joy is a Mom's Choice Awards Gold Winner and a National Parenting Publications Awards Silver Winner.

Pride and Joy is also a Finalist for the 2013 Foreword Reviews Book of the Year, Family and Relationships.

Books by Kenneth Barish Ph.D.

Recent Posts

Kids, Screens and Play: Solutions to a Common Problem

Recent research on kids and screens is alarming. Almost everyone now agrees that parents should establish rules and limits with regard to the amount of time kids spend in front of screens. It matters, however, how we do this.

How to Have a Well-Behaved Child, Part 3

Self-regulation, especially in childhood, is not learned well from consequences or punishment. The threat of punishment has its place, but it is a small part of learning discipline and self-control.

How to Have a Well-Behaved Child, Part 2

In my last post, I presented general principles of good behavior in young children. Today, I would like to follow up with specific recommendations – 15 rules that parents can use to help children learn to behave well (most of the time).

How to Have a Well-Behaved Child, Part 1

By all accounts, modern American children are very poorly behaved. Why is this so? And what can we do about it?

A Father's Day Remembrance

My father was a warm and generous man. When I became a father, he was my role model. I wanted to become the kind of father who would earn my children’s love and respect, as he had earned mine.

My father was a warm and generous man. When I became a father, he was my role model. I wanted to become the kind of father who would earn my children’s love and respect, as he had earned mine.

How to Have Better Conversations With Your Children, Part II

In today’s post, I would like to share a lesson I learned about talking with children when I was still a young parent. There is no better way, as a parent (or as a child therapist) to engage a young child’s attention and provide emotional support than through sharing personal stories.

In today’s post, I would like to share a lesson I learned about talking with children when I was still a young parent. There is no better way, as a parent (or as a child therapist) to engage a young child’s attention and provide emotional support than through sharing personal stories.

The Most Important Ten Minutes of Your Child’s Day

The daily lives of children are not all about positive feelings. All children have moments of disappointment, discouragement and self-doubt. In every family, there will be moments of anger and misunderstanding. Our task, as parents, is to recognize these moments and begin a process of repair.

The daily lives of children are not all about positive feelings. All children have moments of disappointment, discouragement and self-doubt. In every family, there will be moments of anger and misunderstanding. Our task, as parents, is to recognize these moments and begin a process of repair.

How to Have Better Conversations With Your Children

Why don’t children want to talk with us about their bad feelings? Why are they so often defensive and uncommunicative, unwilling even to report mundane events of the day? Here are some recommendations for developing more open communication with children.

Why don’t children want to talk with us about their bad feelings? Why are they so often defensive and uncommunicative, unwilling even to report mundane events of the day? Here are some recommendations for developing more open communication with children.

How Can We Help Our Children Become “Grittier”?

Last month, I was privileged to join a discussion of Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED Talk on grit. Duckworth has found, in many different settings, that doing well - in school and in life - depends far less on intelligence and talent, and much more on passion and perseverance, a quality she calls “grit.” She asks, "What can parents do to help their children develop grit?"

Last month, I was privileged to join a discussion of Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED Talk on grit. Duckworth has found, in many different settings, that doing well - in school and in life - depends far less on intelligence and talent, and much more on passion and perseverance, a quality she calls “grit.” She asks, "What can parents do to help their children develop grit?"

Should Parents Bribe Their Children?

Offering bribes or rewards to children for compliance with basic chores can help us get through the day with less argument and less stress, and this is no small thing. But when we are frequently thinking about rewards as the solution to family problems, we risk losing sight of what is most important in how children learn cooperative behavior.

Offering bribes or rewards to children for compliance with basic chores can help us get through the day with less argument and less stress, and this is no small thing. But when we are frequently thinking about rewards as the solution to family problems, we risk losing sight of what is most important in how children learn cooperative behavior.

November 2024 magazine cover

The Perfectionism Trap

When we fall prey to perfectionism, we think we’re honorably aspiring to be our very best, but often we’re really just setting ourselves up for failure, as perfection is impossible and its pursuit inevitably backfires.

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