Taipei, Taiwan, 20 September 2012 – Every parent can recall a point where their children have driven them to the breaking point. Whether it’s coming home to a moody teen with a new piercing; a toddler tantrum at the checkout; or a colicky baby’s incessant crying: every parent can relate to those moments where it all seems too much and negative feelings take over. In fact, every day has its up and downs as a parent. 

‘Parents Are People Too – An Emotional Fitness Program for Parents’ helps parents gain control of negative feelings. The ability to control negative feelings is what the author means by emotional fitness—doing so is key to being a good parent. 

The emotional fitness skills taught in the book include feeling awareness, self-soothing, distracting, focusing on what is important, disputing, giving feedback, proper expression of feelings, acceptance, and radical acceptance. In addition to these skills, the book contains numerous exercises designed to strengthen each skill.  The final chapter describes Twelve Daily Exercises.  These are specifically designed to improve emotional fitness.  The promise of the book is that learning and practicing these exercises will enable parents to take charge of their feelings and enjoy the journey of parenting more.

If the title of professional parent were ever permitted, it would be due to the author, Katherine Gordy Levine. Mother, grandmother and foster parent to almost 400 troubled teens, she is also an accredited therapist, a Professor of Social Work at Columbia University, Director of mental health crisis programs for children, 30+ years of social work experience and 20+ years working as a professional speaker on parenting and emotional fitness topics.  

Katherine remarks about her time as a foster parent, “One of the most important lessons was realizing that when I handled my feelings properly, I handled the kids better. I never found a book devoted to helping me handle my feelings so I could be a better parent. I decided, therefore, to write this book.”

Katherine is a prolific writer who shares her wisdom on her blogs, Parents Are People Too and Emotional Fitness Training Inc (EFTI). 2012 has seen the publication of 3 books (so far):