Welcome to the wild, wonderful world of single parenting—one of the toughest, most thankless jobs in Universe. The good news is that you’re not alone. Over the last decade the ranks of single parents has swelled to a whopping ten million in the United States alone, forcing business and government to accommodate more of your needs. Also, society’s perceptions of single parents have changed. It’s now perfectly acceptable, even admirable to be a single mom or dad. Still, unless you’re independently wealthy and have nothing to do but work at being a perfect parent, you can use all the help you can get in making single parenting work for you and your kids. Single Parenting For Dummies to the rescue! Whether you’re already a single parent or soon to become one, this warm, friendly guide will be a source of encouragement and ideas. Packed with proven solutions to most of the challenges single parents face, it show you how to: Balance work and family life Develop strong relationships with your kids Help kids adjust to the trauma of divorce Manage your time—and money Develop a successful co-parenting plan Deal with dating and remarriage Raise happy, healthy well-adjusted kids Know when to seek professional help and how to find it Drawing upon their own experiences and expertise and the experiences of single parents whose stories they share throughout the book, psychotherapist Marion Peterson and bestselling self-help author Diane Warner, cover all the bases, including: Adjusting to single parent status Managing your time and sharing resources with other single parents Avoiding the five biggest single parent money mistakes Keeping close to your kids and considering their point of view Developing a co-parenting plan and making sure all parties stick to it Dealing peacefully with stepparents and former in-laws Keeping your cool when resolving parenting problems Staying physically and psychologically fit Yes, you can raise happy, healthy well-adjusted kids while keeping your sanity and your health in tact, and now Single Parenting For Dummies shows you how.

Written by parents for parents! We humans are pretty clever. We’ve mastered fire, invented the wheel, calculated the age of the Universe, sent people to the Moon, built machines that think, and cracked the genome. So you’d think that with all our smarts, somebody would’ve come up with a surefire formula for raising kids. Maybe that’s because every child, like every parent, is an individual, and no two parent-child relationships are ever the same. So, you can give up any notions of being a perfect parent. But, you can learn to keep the big mistakes to a minimum and make the parenting enterprise easier and more rewarding for your children and you. Which is where this book comes in. Whether you’re child is a newborn, a teen, or somewhere in-between, Parenting For Dummies gives you the scoop on parenting basics. From dealing with a crying baby and potty training, to building self-esteem and talking with them about sex, it offers a gold mine of up-to-date advice and guidance on how to: Learn to communicate with your kids Develop a good relationship with your kids Keep your kids safe and healthy Help your kids grow up to be good people Keep your cool and control their behavior Discipline constructively and with a minimum of stress Build self-esteem in your children Avoid committing the parenting sins your parents taught you Experts Sandy and Dan Gookin—she’s the parenting expert for Parents Magazine and Working Mother Magazine and he’s a father of four—avoid the psychological hype and medical terminology and give you the straight poop on all aspects of child-rearing, including: Speaking and listening to kids The importance of being consistent Keeping a sense of humor Dealing with babies Childhood growth and development Health and nutrition Kids’ changing physical needs Developing a good person Parenting For Dummies gives you the know-how and skills you need to be the parent of healthy, happy kids.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Single parents face a triple bind of inadequate resources, employment, and policies, which in combination further complicate their lives. This book - multi-disciplinary and comparative in design - shows evidence from over 40 countries, along with detailed case studies of Sweden, Iceland, Scotland, and the UK. It covers aspects of well-being that include poverty, good quality jobs, the middle class, wealth, health, children’s development and performance in school, and reflects on social justice. Leading international scholars challenge our current understanding of what works and draw policy lessons on how to improve the well-being of single parents and their children.

Provide effective counseling to members of single-parent families With more than half of all first marriages ending in divorce, it’s time to re-think the notion that “divorce” means “failure.” Therapy with Single Parents focuses on the strengths of the single-parent family rather than its weaknesses, stressing the need to look at the socially constructed norms, values, and definitions associated with marriage and family in order to provide effective counseling. This unique book examines experiences that are common to single parents and presents interventive strategies for treating single-parent family issues, drawing on clinical case studies to provide technical knowledge in everyday language. Current research shows that single parents account for 27 percent of family households that include children under 18 and that the number of single mothers in the United States more than tripled between 1970 and 2000. Therapy with Single Parents challenges outdated notions that the single-parent family is somehow deficient and associated with adjustment problems in children. It doesn’t ignore the anger, pain, sadness, and guilt experienced by many members of single parent families but offers therapeutic considerations from a more balanced approach. The book examines the social, psychological, and sexual experiences of newly single parents and addresses the ups and downs they’ll face in dealing with schools, the workplace, and social services. Therapy with Single Parents examines: social and psychological differences between divorce and widowhood cognitive-behavioral principles of single-parent families what children can learn from divorce dealing with the ghosts of past relationships relationship rules dealing with adult children and extended families the effect of change in divorcing families the feminization of poverty the therapeutic value of social networks Therapy with Single Parents is an invaluable resource for psychologists, professional counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists. The book presents a thorough, in-depth examination of the single-parent family system as a viable, healthy family form.

The Parenting Skills Treatment Planner provides all the elements necessary to quickly and easily develop formal treatment plans that satisfy the demands of HMOs, managed care companies, third-party payors, and state and federal review agencies. A critical tool for mental health professionals addressing today's complex family structures and the increased pressures on children and adolescents from school, peers, and the general culture Saves you hours of time-consuming paperwork, yet offers the freedom to develop customized treatment plans for parents and other caregivers Organized around 31 main presenting problems with a focus on giving parents the skills they need to effectively help their children navigate contemporary issues such as the trauma associated with divorce, school pressures, and sexual abuse Over 1,000 well-crafted, clear statements describe the behavioral manifestations of each relational problem, long-term goals, short-term objectives, and clinically tested treatment options Easy-to-use reference format helps locate treatment plan components by behavioral problem or DSM-IVTR(TM) diagnosis Includes a sample treatment plan that conforms to the requirements of most third-party payors and accrediting agencies (including HCFA, JCAHO, and NCQA)

The first authoritative yet accessible guide to this broad and popular topic Sociology is the study of human and societal interaction, and because society is constantly changing, sociology will always remain a crucial and relevant subject. Sociology For Dummies helps you understand this complex field, serving as the ideal study guide both when you're deciding to take a class as well as when you are already participating in a course. Provides a general overview of what sociology in as well as an in-depth look at some of the major concepts and theories Offers examples of how sociology can be applied and its importance to everyday life Avoiding jargon, Sociology For Dummies will get you up to speed on this widely studied topic in no time.

This timesaving resource features: Treatment plan components for 31 behaviorally based presenting problems Over 1,000 prewritten treatment goals, objectives, and interventions A step-by-step guide to writing treatment plans that meet the requirements of most insurance companies and third-party payors The Parenting Skills Treatment Planner provides all the elements necessary to quickly and easily develop formal treatment plans that satisfy the demands of HMOs, managed care companies, third-party payors, and state and federal review agencies. A critical tool for mental health professionals addressing today's complex family structures and the increased pressures on children and adolescents from school, peers, and the general culture Saves you hours of time-consuming paperwork, yet offers the freedom to develop customized treatment plans for parents and other caregivers Organized around 31 main presenting problems with a focus on giving parents the skills they need to effectively help their children navigate contemporary issues such as the trauma associated with divorce, school pressures, and sexual abuse Over 1,000 well-crafted, clear statements describe the behavioral manifestations of each relational problem, long-term goals, short-term objectives, and clinically tested treatment options Easy-to-use reference format helps locate treatment plan components by behavioral problem Includes a sample treatment plan that conforms to the requirements of most third-party payors and accrediting agencies (including HCFA, JCAHO, and NCQA)