Tuesday, October 21, 2014
I am becoming increasingly more passionate about the human brain and how it works and it's contribution to our overall sense of well being. I recently discovered an interesting and helpful on line resource that I think all
parents could benefit from. I was drawn to the website by the opening statement " Welcome to our world wide conversation about the human mind and
the cultivation of well being". Dr. Daniel Siegel (www.dansiegal.com) received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and
child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. Dr. Siegel is currently a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine where he is on the faculty of the Center for Culture, Brain, and Development
<http://cbd.ucla.edu/> and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center <http://marc.ucla.edu/
He is the author of several books and the one that I am interested in is called Brainstorm - The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain (all of us who are parents of
teenagers understand why a book like this would be useful!). The book addresses how the human brain changes between the ages of 12-24 in important, and oftentimes maddening, ways. He acknowledges that it is no
wonder that many parents approach their child's adolescence with fear and trepidation. Dr. Siegel suggests in the book that if parents and teens can
work together to form a deeper understanding of the brain science behind all the tumult, they will be able to turn conflict into connection and form a deeper understanding of one another. In Brainstorm, Siegel describes how brain development impacts teenagers' behavior and relationships. He draws on important new research in the field
of interpersonal neurobiology, and he explores ways in which understanding how the teenage brain functions can help parents make what is in fact an incredibly positive period of growth, change, and experimentation in their
children's lives less lonely and distressing on both sides of the generational divide.
He has written other books that will be useful for parents of young children, and on the website on the resources section he has short online parenting videos on many topics like how to stop yelling at your kids, how a
better understanding of the brain can help improve parenting, left and right brain integration in daily life, how storytelling connects both side of the brain and several others. I've watched a couple of the clips and
they sparked some new perspectives, questions and ideas to contemplate. As a parent that is always a good thing. As a parent of a teenager, it is a necessary thing!
Commentaires