A powerful new book that gives flustered parents the exact words to use in any situation.

A toddler meltdown over the wrong pair of trousers, siblings fighting in the back of the car, constant struggles just to leave the house … Parents have the best intentions to be patient and loving, but in the heat of the moment they often find themselves feeling helpless, desperate, and so frustrated that they resort to shouting, threatening, bribing, or caving. Now Say This solves the dilemma of how to be empathic and effective at once.

Based on their popular 3-step ‘ALP’ model — Attune, Limit Set, Problem Solve — which the authors have taught to thousands of parents in their clinical practice, Now Say This addresses issues such as:

• tantrums
• sibling relationships
• screen time
• bedtime

Best of all, it answers the question ‘Now, what do you actually say?’ using scripts and body-language tips from real-life examples. User-friendly and research based, Now Say This transforms remarkable ideas into practical how-tos that busy parents can use right away.

‘A brilliantly practical guide to a style of parenting that’s not only kinder but way more effective. The best way to teach children to listen is to listen to them – which is the start of the simple, powerful three-step process the authors reveal here.’

‘When I picked up the new book Now Say This, I felt as though the authors had been secretly observing our lives and wrote a book especially for us … I highly recommend this book to parents of young children. We all aim to be wonderful role models for our children, we want to teach them right from wrong and how to cope with their emotions. The hard part is that we don’t always have the right words or framework. Now Say This teaches you both of these things.’

Heather Turgeon is a psychotherapist and author. Her work has appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post, among other publications. Turgeon runs parenting groups and works with families in her clinical practice in Los Angeles. She has two (well-rested) elementary- and middle-school-age kids. Julie Wright is one of Los Angeles’s best-known parenting-group leaders, and has taught thousands of mothers in her popular Wright Mommy and Me groups. She trained at Cedars-Sinai Early Childhood Center and co-founded a program for parents and babies from zero to three at the Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic.