eBooks for patients and families: Home

Mentalization is the idea that understanding a person's mental state can help you understand their behaviour. This book explores how mental states relate to attachment style, internal regulation, emotional compass, and parenting. It also offers tips on play, boundaries, sexuality, and sibling relationships.

From two of the top child and adolescent psychiatrists at The Hospital for Sick Children comes an accessible guide to common mental health struggles, such as anxiety and depression, for any parent wondering how to help their child.
Covers eating disorders, anxiety, psychosis, sleep disorders, substance use disorders, ADHD, autism, depression, trauma, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Help prepare the children and teens in your life to face life’s challenges with grace and grit. This award-winning guide shares 7 crucial Cs: competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control. Discover how to incorporate these concepts into your parenting style and communication strategies.

This concise guide is for individuals seeking a counselor for themselves or others. Chapter topics include how to know when to seek help and what kinds of issues counselors assist with; the differences between individual, group, couples, family, and online counseling; the various theoretical approaches to counseling and how to choose; how to find a competent counselor; what questions you should ask before scheduling your first appointment; and how to determine if counseling is working.

This book offers powerful, step-by-step treatment strategies for panic disorders, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), worry, and fear.
You will also find new information on relapse prevention after successful treatment, and updates on medication, cannabis derivatives, ketamine, exposure, nutrition, spirituality, the latest research in neurobiology, and more.

This illustrated book guides children and their parents through the cognitive-behavioral techniques used to treat obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Using examples, activities, and step-by-step instructions, this interactive self-help book helps kids develop the skills needed to recognize and more appropriately respond to OCD's tricks, thoughts and urges.

In this go-to guide for teens, four anxiety experts offer tangible tips and tools you can use every day to rewire your anxious brain; manage fears, stress, and worry; and get back to living your life. For ages 12+.

Learn mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a clinically proven program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Full Catastrophe Living . MBSR is effective in alleviating stress, anxiety, panic, depression, chronic pain, and a wide range of medical conditions. Taught in classes and clinics worldwide, this powerful approach shows you how to focus on the present moment and permanently change the way you handle stress.

Parents can play a strong role in helping their children overcome anxiety disorders--given the right tools. This innovative, research-based book shows clinicians how to teach parents cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques to use with their 5- to 12-year-old. Session-by-session guidelines are provided for giving parents the skills to promote children's flexible thinking and independent problem solving, help them face specific fears, and tackle accompanying difficulties, such as sleep problems and school refusal.

In this workbook, you will explore your own stress triggers and symptoms, and learn how to create a personal action plan for stress reduction. Each chapter features a different method for relaxation, explains why the method works, and provides on-the-spot exercises you can do when you feel stressed out. The result is a comprehensive yet accessible workbook that will help you to curb stress and cultivate a more peaceful life.

This book focuses on the treatment of childhood anxiety, both in one-on-one therapist to child treatment and within the family. This integrated approach presents strategies to help mental health professionals and families create change and momentum in otherwise stagnant situations.This guide offers practical, evidence-based, and theory-driven strategies for helping children to overcome anxiety, even if they resist treatment. Provides concrete advice for both the therapeutic and home environments.

All About ADHD is a comprehensive guide to ADHD's symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment in children and adults, including information including basic symptoms and their effects on school, work, home, and personal relationships; the differences in ADHD between boys and girls; counseling, school interventions, behavior management, and social skills training; and research-based tips and techniques.

This book guides parents to understand why 6- to 18-year-olds with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) act the way they do--and provides practical steps to help them live up to their potential. Learn how to find the right professional help, get needed support at school, and manage challenging behavior using proven techniques.

This cookbook provides a current and greatly expanded review of the most commonly used diets that are important in the treatment of ADHD and autism. There are recipes appropriate to specific diets as indicated by icons and descriptors with each recipe. The authors share details about just how and why each diet works, examine specialty ingredients in-depth, and provide extensive resources and references.

What have scientists learned about the causes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)? Can parents do anything to prevent it? Why do different kids have such different symptoms, and what are the best ways to deal with them? Will there ever be a cure? This guide helps parents put the latest advances to work for their unique child. From the impact of sleep, exercise, diet, and technology, to which type of professional help might be the right fit, the authors cover it all with expertise and compassion. Above all, they emphasize that current progress makes this an encouraging time for anyone who wants to help children and teens on the spectrum live to their fullest potential.

This delightful book is a light-hearted, playful and sincere look at life with an autistic child. Humorous illustrations depict those unique moments that every autistic child's family will recognise, and gently remind the reader to take care of themselves and appreciate the many wonderful experiences of being a mother, father, brother or sister to an autistic person.

Full of insights about being awesome and autistic, this book celebrates the strengths of understanding the world in a different way. It looks at all the reasons being you and thinking differently can be totally awesome! It also has tips for managing tricky situations such as meltdowns, sensory differences and anxiety. For ages 10+.

This guide for parents is a complete introduction to autism and anxiety. Drawing on the author's clinical experience working with children and their families, it provides parents and carers with everything they need to know to help support their child.
It covers the basics such as what anxiety is, how it manifests behaviourally and why it is common in autism. The book also presents CBT-informed practical strategies for managing a common range of anxieties: separation, social, performance, phobias, and generalised anxiety. It includes chapters about related behaviours including Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) and advice on managing meltdowns.

This book is written for parents, relatives, professionals, educators, or caregivers of a child or adult on the spectrum. These techniques are for children and adults that are not yet verbal, making some sounds, using some words, speaking in single words, or using two-word phrases. The author demonstrates how to effectively address your child's echolalia, repetitious language, and repetitive questions in a way that your child will find supportive, bonding, and even joyful.

This book is for parents and people working with children and young people on the spectrum, including those with more complicated needs. It is also relevant to children who have related needs such as ADHD and sensory processing challenges. Includes plans, structures, goals, teaching tips and a multitude of real-life stories.

This cookbook provides a current and greatly expanded review of the most commonly used diets that are important in the treatment of ADHD and autism. There are recipes appropriate to specific diets as indicated by icons and descriptors with each recipe. The authors share details about just how and why each diet works, examine specialty ingredients in-depth, and provide extensive resources and references.

This book explains the scientific evidence for what happens to the brain and body after a concussion. The author shares stories from a diverse group of patients, educating readers on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The book explains what to do after a concussion, and how these actions affect future well-being. The author also explains how to evaluate risks before participating in activities and how to use proven safety strategies to mitigate these risks.

This workbook for teens will show you how to deal with the day-to-day challenges of making healthy decisions about food. Instead of resorting to fad diets, you will learn how to avoid overeating in the first place, be more aware of your body, and really enjoy meals-instead of just popping food in your mouth without thinking.
It's not easy to make smart food choices in our fast-paced, fast food culture. This workbook can help guide you, one bite at a time. For ages 12+.

This book is an authoritative guide to understanding and helping a teenager with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, or other eating disorders. It combines the latest science--including the newest treatments and most up-to-date research findings on eating disorders--with the practical wisdom of parents who have been in the trenches raising teens with eating disorders.

Top experts James Lock and Daniel Le Grange explain what you need to know about eating disorders, which treatments work, and why it is absolutely essential to play an active role in your teen's recovery--even though parents have often been told to take a back seat. Learn how to monitor your teen's eating and exercise, manage mealtimes, end weight-related power struggles, and partner successfully with health care providers. When families work together to get the most out of treatment and prevent relapse, eating disorders can be beat. This book is your essential roadmap. Featuring the latest research, resources, and diagnostic information, the second edition has been expanded to cover binge-eating disorder.

This is a practical guidebook for parents, teachers and other professionals supporting children with sensory and motor learning difficulties. It offers an understanding of developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and the impact that this can have in both home and school settings. Each chapter offers practical ‘hands-on’ strategies, activities and ideas for managing the effects of the condition as well as providing a sound medical and physiological understanding of the condition.

This book outlines an attachment-based approach to help your child succeed based in the latest research. A secure attachment relationship between you and your child actually optimizes their learning ability by enhancing motivation, regulating anxiety, and triggering neuroplasticity. You will discover why it's so important to accurately assess your child, find new perspectives on LBLDs based on the most current studies, and discover tips and strategies for navigating school, home life, and your child's future. Most importantly, you will learn how your own special bond with your child can help spark their interest in reading, writing, and math.

This user-friendly manual presents a tested treatment protocol for children and adolescents (ages 6 to 18) struggling with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Ten flexible modules give clinicians tools for engaging kids and their parents and implementing successful exposure and response prevention activities, as well as other cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies.

Giving a full overview of childhood obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and discussing all major treatment options, including cognitive behavioural therapy and medication, this guide provides the essential information that families, teachers, caregivers, clinicians and mental health professionals need in order to understand and treat childhood OCD. It covers origins, symptoms and related illnesses and explains how OCD is diagnosed. The book also suggests ways to maximize the outcomes of treatment, what to do when treatment doesn't work, and how to help manage OCD in children at school and in the home.

This workbook blends cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). You will learn how pain affects both your mind and body, how negative emotions can make pain worse, and strategies to help you turn the volume down on your pain, so you can go back to enjoying activities that you love. You'll also learn mindfulness and relaxation exercises, including belly breathing and body scan to help manage pain in the moment. The exercises and strategies in this book are rooted in research, fun to learn, and easy to practice. For ages 12+.

Accessible, comprehensive, and up-to-date information about the challenges patients, family, and caregivers face when confronted by chronic pain. You will learn how to take control of your chronic pain using a variety of tools, like behavioral, exercise and nutritional approaches, medications, alternative treatments (yoga and tai chi), and injections or surgery.

In this workbook, you will learn about the power of mindfulness, and how it can help you create your own special space for simply being with your thoughts. When you deal with difficult emotions, yo willl have this safe space to go to again and again. You will learn how to be mindful of your senses, techniques for managing difficult feelings before they escalate, and move past self-judgment to embrace self-compassion and self-awareness. For ages 12+.

This book provides up-to-date, evidence-based behavioral treatment strategies. It uses entertaining stories to show how sleep problems not only impact the child, but also affect the parents. Quizzes in each chapter help you see if the challenge being explained applies to your child. The book includes chapters on special populations and medically-based sleep problems that are also relevant to some readers. The appendix includes user-friendly charts to support you in applying the book’s strategies.

This workbook provides effective approaches to putting babies and children to sleep. Includes the author's signature Sleep Lady Shuffle. Helps tired parents create and follow an effective sleep plan to achieve sleep success for babies and children of any age - from toddlers to tweens.

This book for young adults delivers facts about the differences between smoking and vaping, effects on their short-term and long-term health, and how addiction works. This book gives strategies for dealing with peer pressure, how to handle addiction, and how to quit smoking altogether. (Note: This resource uses the term 'addiction,' instead of preferred terms 'substance use problem' or 'problematic use.') For ages 12+.

Whether you are a smoker or a vaper, this guidebook walks you through building your own personal quit plan. Offering information on new and effective medication treatments, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and building resilience, it sets you on the path to recovery. This book breaks down the psychology of your addiction so you can identify the methods that are most useful and effective for becoming smoke free for good.

This book provides readers with important information on substance use, symptoms, causes, effects, and treatment. Written by experts in the field of addiction medicine, this book helps readers to understand substance use disorders (SUD) from the perspective of their affected loved one, and emphasizes that recovery is possible. Using real-world examples, the book illustrates how SUDs can impact family units and family members, including children. The book also provides practical strategies for supporting a loved one with a SUD, while caring for yourself.

For young adult readers looking for the lowdown on opioids, this book delivers the facts, including how opioids affect the brain and why painkillers can lead to dependence. This practical guide includes tips for coping with pain without resorting to opioids, and resources for those who are facing opioid dependence. (Note: This resource uses the term 'addiction,' instead of preferred terms 'substance use problem' or 'problematic use.') For ages 12+.

The sexual abuse of a child creates a devastating family crisis. Parents want to know what to do and say to help their child, both immediately and in the long term. This book offers practical guidance for parents who courageously face the days and months after a child's abuse. Written in a positive, reassuring jargon-free style, it discusses each stage of a child's recovery. Information for parents appears on the left-hand pages; sample conversations and activities for parent and child together are on the right-hand pages.

This book provides an overview the history of birth control, the risks and benefits of contraception, the role of menstruation, and the future of birth control. The goal of this book is to provide accurate, unbiased scientific information about contraception in the context of women's lived experiences and the realities of how individuals make decisions about birth control.

After perinatal or postpartum depression, the decision to have another baby can be fraught with emotion. The author shares her story and those of others who have decided to carry, adopt, or not have another child. This book offers expert advice and insights, alongside current research, for women considering expanding their family after postpartum depression.

This comprehensive first of its kind guidebook explores the unique challenges that thousands of families face every day raising their children in every city and state. Through extensive research and interviews, as well as years of experience working in the field, the authors cover gender variance from birth through college. This book offers a deeper understanding of gender variant and transgender children and teens.

This comprehensive guidebook explores the unique challenges that thousands of families face every day raising a teenager who may be transgender, gender-variant or gender-fluid. Covering extensive research and with many personal interviews, as well as years of experience working in the field, the author covers pressing concerns relating to physical and emotional development, social and school pressures, medical options, and family communications. Learn how parents can advocate for their children, find acceptable colleges and career paths, and raise their gender variant or transgender adolescent with love and compassion.

Emma Hansen is 39 weeks and 6 days pregnant when she feels her baby go quiet inside of her. At the hospital, her worst fears are confirmed: doctors explain that her baby has died, and she will need to deliver him, still.
Hansen gives birth to her son, Reid, amidst an avalanche of grief. Nine days later, she publishes a candid essay on her website sharing photos from the delivery room. Much to her surprise, her essay goes viral, sparking positive reactions around the world. Still shares what comes next: a struggle with grief and confusion alongside a desire to better understand stillbirth, which is experienced by more than two million women annually, but rarely talked about in public.

Beloved grief educator Dr. Alan Wolfelt compassionately explores the common feelings of shock, anger, guilt, and sadness that accompany a stillborn child, offering suggestions for expressing feelings, remembering the child, and healing as a family. Ideas to help each unique person—mother, father, grandparent, sibling, friend—are included, as are thoughts from families who experienced a stillbirth.

resenting simple yet highly effective methods for coping and healing, this book provides answers and relief to parents trying to deal with the loss of a child. It offers 100 practical, action-oriented tips for embracing grief, such as writing a letter to the child who has died; spending time with others who will listen to stories of grief; creating a memory book, box, or Web site; and remembering others who may still be struggling with the death. The guide also addresses common problems for grieving parents, including dealing with marital stress, helping surviving siblings, dealing with hurtful advice, and exploring feelings of guilt. This compassionate resource will aid parents who have been through the death of a child—whether the passing happened recently or many years ago, whether the child was young or an adult.

This volume addresses what to expect from grieving young people, and how to provide safe outlets for children to express emotion. Included in each book are tested, sensitive ideas for “carpe diem” actions that people can take right this minute—while still remaining supportive and honoring the mourner’s loss.

A compassionate resource for friends, parents, relatives, teachers, volunteers, and caregivers. This book addresses what to expect from grieving young people, and how to provide safe outlets for teens to express emotion. Included in each book are tested, sensitive ideas for “carpe diem” actions that people can take right this minute—while still remaining supportive and honoring the mourner’s loss.

This book is for mourning children, and provides ideas and action-oriented tips that teach the basic principles of grief and healing. These ideas and activities are aimed at reducing the confusion, anxiety, and huge personal void so that the living can begin their lives again. Includes age-appropriate activities that teach younger people that their thoughts are not only normal but necessary. For ages 5-11.

This book is for mourning teens, and provides ideas and action-oriented tips that teach the basic principles of grief and healing. These ideas and activities are aimed at reducing the confusion, anxiety, and huge personal void so that the living can begin their lives again. Includes age-appropriate activities that teach younger people that their thoughts are not only normal but necessary. For ages 12+.