Treat a child as though he already is the person he's capable of becoming.

When children feel understood, their loneliness and hurt diminish. When children are understood, their love for their parent is deepened. A parent's sympathy serves as emotional first aid for bruised feelings. When we genuinely acknowledge a child's plight and voice her disappointment, she often gathers the strength to face reality.

Whenever I hear about a child needing something, I ask myself, 'Is it what he needs or what he wants?' It isn't always easy to distinguish between the two. A child has many real needs which can and should be satisfied. His wants are a bottomless pit. He wants, for example, to sleep with his parents. He needs to be in his own bed. At Christmas he wants every toy advertised on television. He needs only one or two.

Misbehavior and punishment are not opposites that cancel each other - on the contrary they breed and reinforce each other.

The search for a personal identity is the life task of a teenager.

Each of us carries within himself a collection of instant insults.

Many teenagers are tormented by terrors they deem private and personal. They do not know that their anxieties and doubts are universal.