Seeking the counsel of trusted and respected health professionals can also be helpful in providing parents with some balance for their concerns as well as other avenues of support.

Sometimes offering support and making yourself available when the child or adolescent is ready to talk can be the most helpful you can be.

Demonstrating faith and optimism in the child or adolescent's ability to work things out in their own time and in their own way can be very difficult but it is possible to do this while also offering assistance.

A parenting program should focus on parent's attitudes to themselves, their children, and the relationships they are building with their children.

A parenting program should provide time for parents to clarify their own ideas about what it means to be an effective and successful parent.

Attitudes of optimism, of "let them be", and of joy in watching and helping another life develop and blossom will help parents relish their parenting role and will provide the resilience necessary to navigate turbulent times.

Somewhat paradoxically, parenting programs should focus on the behavior of the parents not the behavior of the children.