Self Esteem. A Family Affair :: Education by Design Store

Editorial Review
Strong self-esteem is a critical ingredient for human happiness--and its development begins at home in the nurturing interactions between children and adults. Clarke's unique approach to building self-esteem begins with her belief that this is indeed a "family affair." Rather than offering collection of dictatorial "shoulds," Self-Esteem: A Family Affair instead serves as a source of parental support, providing a broad range of imaginative and effective suggestions for dealing with individual family members in ways that nourish self-esteem for all involved.

Throughout her book, Clarke encourages parents to claim their strengths and to trust their judgment as they make decisions about appropriate child care. Recognizing, too, that kids' needs are best met by adults whose own needs have not been neglected, Clarke offers a range of creative and workable options for parents to build the self-esteem of children while also caring for their emotional needs.

Jean Illsley Clarke, author of Hazelden's Growing Up Again: Parenting Ourselves, Parenting Our Children, is a writer and an internationally recognized parent educator who specializes in the areas of parenting, self-esteem, family dynamics, and adult children of alcoholics. She currently directs the Self-Esteem Center, which she founded in 1975, and lives in Plymouth, Minnesota.
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Customer Reviews

Nice title, but content left me empty

2008-07-27
I was very hopeful for this book, based on the other positive reviews. But I was extremely disappointed. The book spends almost all of its time on case studies, giving examples of people's situations and what they should and shouldn't do. If an example happens to fit your situation, perhaps you will find it helpful. I did not. Almost every paragraph in the book starts with the name of one of the fictional characters, and even the summaries at the end of each chapter were written in context of the characters. I found this annoying and unhelpful. I was looking for more insights that will stimulate my thinking for my own life.

From the perspective of a social worker

2007-09-02
This book uses a very clear paradiagm to analyse the different kinds of messages we give our kids. It teaches a person to be aware of the effect of what we are saying. It also can enlighten a person to the way in which they speak to themselves and to foster positive self talk. I would highly recommend this book.

A must read for parents

2005-02-22
I read this book in the wee ours of the morning when my child was a crying infant. It has been a great part of bringing her up as a self assured young lady.

Now I am buying a copy to give to my daughetr because she has a child of the same age.

Life-Changing Resource for Parents

2003-09-03
Jean Illsley Clarke has given parents and families a real gift with this book. Our family has benefitted so much from her insights, that we were able to understand and apply right away.
Ms. Clark also wrote the foreword for the children's picture book If I Ran the Family, which presents many of these same principles for parents and kids to read together.

Good advice, but focuses only on what we say

2001-06-14
There is good advice here, and know I will refer to the book often. But, there were two things that bothered me while I read it. First, some parts are hard to follow. An example is when the author gives real life examples of families. Family members and friends are often mentioned when they haven't been introduced yet, so as I read along, another name suddenly pops up,and I must stop and figure out "who is this?" Only after going back and then reading all the way through the paragraph again do I figure out the relationships. Second, the advice is really only based in the things we say to our loved ones. Communication is great, but simply saying these "magical phrases" alone is not enough. Before saying any of these affirmations to someone, it might be useful to ask questions to understand where they're coming from and if they even want affirming. It seems like the author presumes you already know when these affirmations are useful.

Important practical advice with examples

2000-09-15
Strong self-esteem is a critical ingredient for human happiness--and its development begins at home in the nurturing interactions between children and adults. Clarke's unique approach to building self-esteem begins with her belief that this is indeed a "family affair." Rather than offering collection of dictatorial "shoulds," Self-Esteem: A Family Affair instead serves as a source of parental support, providing a broad range of imaginative and effective suggestions for dealing with individual family members in ways that nourish self-esteem for all involved.