A Child Therapist’s Guide to Speaking Your Child’s
Language

Dr. Ross-Glazer writes with clarity, wit and humor…not only bringing to the reader the expertise of the clinician, but also the trial and error experience of a real mom. A great gift for your child’s future.”

LaWanda Katzman-Staenberg, PhD., Clinical Psychologist

Welcome to the When Parenting Is A Foreign Language website.

You’ve probably landed here because you’re looking for a good parenting book. As a parent and child therapist, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned in my years of living and working with children. My goals in writing this book are to help parents:

  1. Understand why we so often miscommunicate with children
  2. Provide methods to improve that communication
  3. Understand a child’s psychological development
  4. Learn how to discipline more effectively

The parenting techniques I teach are simple, straightforward and easy to master. What’s more, these concepts are not just applicable to children. Once you learn them, you’ll find they work in a variety of situations and with people of all ages. You’ll have tools you can rely on throughout life.

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Gold Medal - National Indie Excellence Award

Silver Medal - Readers' Favorite Book Awards

Seal of Approval - The National Parenting Center

Reviews of

When Parenting Is A Foreign Language

Children can create challenging situations for their parents, caregivers, and teachers, because they are speaking a different language from the adults in their life, Dr. Diane Ross-Glazer explains. Children speak the language of the heart (feelings), while many adults speak the language of the head (thoughts/logic). Ross-Glazer demonstrates how this leads to a head-heart disconnect, which leads to breaks in the child-adult relationship. She goes on to explain how to repair this disconnect for those who are already experiencing it, and how to nurture and protect the head-heart connection for those who are just starting out.

Many parenting books, including this one, cover topics such as natural consequences, logical consequences, and positive discipline, but Ross-Glazer has a very direct, forthcoming, and simple writing style that will help an overwhelmed adult with a place to start. The topics introduced and discussed in the book are not for a person advanced in the study of positive parenting, but rather serve as an introduction for those who are looking for more information on how to speak to their children lovingly while still setting limits.

The discussion of how children are reacting with their feelings is well supported by Ross-Glazer’s research, and although not cited in the work, I’m familiar with the background she’s using to support the concepts. The corresponding information on how adults are reacting with their thoughts is also enlightening, in particular the quote regarding the usage of “that” in I feel statements.

The exercises provided were thoughtful and useful, although I have not yet done them all. I was able to glean some new tactics for raising well-rounded, self-disciplined, and perfectly imperfect children, and look forward to working through more of the exercises with my children. The step-by-step how-tos on reacting to children by using head-heart language are already proving quite useful.

As Ross-Glazer states, parents are not perfect, and while I am not a perfect parent after reading this book, I am much improved.

Sometimes when you give a parent a parenting book they dismiss it as “been there, done that.” We could not have received a more polar opposite reaction. Parents reported they had numerous “Ah-hah! moments. Why? Because the book teaches you how to communicate with your child on a whole new level by essentially learning a second language, theirs! As adults it is very easy to forget how the mind of a child works. Until you can think like a child, you can’t reason with one. Most parents speak the language of thoughts, whereas children speak the language of feelings. This book is a guide to understanding the language of feelings and how they relate to your child while creating a pathway for communication. It explores the head-heart connection and gives you a step by step guide to repair the connection along with a system for maintaining it. This isn’t an overnight fix, in fact it is going to take a lot of practice. Fortunately the author provides helpful exercises to practice the techniques of identifying problems and then making the right connection with your child. The book is an easy read giving you a clear roadmap through what can feel like uncharted territory. Parents felt that Ross-Glazer’s writing style was easy to digest and light-hearted enough so that you never feel like you’re being judged or preached to. The big takeaway is that it’s never too late to learn and apply these techniques in your home.

Praise for

When Parenting Is A Foreign Language