I found out about this book from a few different directions, but in both cases because Harville is a distant member of two of my social networks.

This book is about what the authors call Conscious Parenting. By the name, it's hard to argue that such a thing could be anything but good.

It's a short but dense book. I listened to the audio edition, but I'll need to go back and take notes on the paper copy.

There's definitely some overlap with other development models, such as Bill Plotkin's Eight Stages of Ecosoulcentric Maturation. This shows that there's likely some validity to the model.

Hendrix/Hunt's basic premise is that difficulties in our relationships with our children indicate places where our parents weren't harmoniously involved with our lives at the corresponding place in our development. They see struggle as an opportunity for growth. The book definitely has spiritual and religious overtones, which, really, probably is a good thing when talking about parenting, as parenting should come from a values-oriented place, not just a functional or aesthetic perspective.

I have yet to experiment with these methods, but I look forward to trying some of them out. I'm also interested in exploring Hendrix/Hunt's models for partnership, as that's their main thing.

I give the book a three stars just because I feel like it's too short. It's full of examples, which I love. But I'd be interested in hearing how the methods were developed, and more time fleshing out the theories. ( )