Parenting is a Contact Sport will help parents build permanent and powerful relationships with their children that will see them through tough challenges.Skillfully balancing information from her years as a therapist and her experience as the mother of two girls, the author guides the readers through the biggest problem areas of parenting, including communication, discipline, belonging, honesty, and self-esteem. Readers will learn that the key is establishing a connection through physical, verbal, and even unspoken contact.This book will stimulate thinking about families and provide courage to improve, renew, or repair damaged relationships. Providing specific behavioral advice supported by anecdotal material, the author coaches readers through the tough spots of making contact and deepening bonds - in the present and for the future.--Joanne Stern has been a psycotherapist for more than twenty years and a parent for thirty-three years, including five as a single mom. As an expert in family relationships and communication, she has taught parenting classes and worked with families and their children. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Northwestern University, a double master's in counseling and theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a PhD in human and organizational systems from Fielding Graduate University.