In the coming months I will periodically post some tips for parents. One of the most common issues parents ask me for help with in counseling is how to appropriately discipline their children. Kids can be a wonderful joy in the lives of parents, but they can also become stressors when their behavior starts to get out of control. I have compiled a list of helpful discipline strategies that can help parents improve the behavior of their children. Here is the first one:

Tip 1 –  Be parents, not peers: Don’t get stuck in society’s trend toward parents and children having peer relationships. Healthy family hierarchies need to differentiate parents from kids. It is of course important to develop and maintain healthy relationships with your kids. However, that is different than acting like their teenage friend. In this process parents need to always be equals.

Check back in future for additional tips.