One of the premises of parenting might be that the job of parents is to teach their kids to get along without them.

When a child or adolescent is troubled, the most important thing for the parent to focus on may very well be their relationship with their child or adolescent. Parents need to do whatever they can to make sure the relationship is strong.

Once parents have a clear idea of their important parenting goals, beliefs, and values, they can then think about specific situations and identify the outcomes they would like to achieve in these situations. How can you be the parent you want to be whether or not your children are behaving as you would prefer?

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

Accessing a "professional listener" such as a psychologist or counselor can be useful if the loved one wants to use this form of support.

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

Parents should be able to develop goals about the type of parents they want to be.