Wit’s End: Advice and Resources for Saving Your Out-of-Control Teen
Sue Scheff
Published By: HCI
Book Category: Non-Fiction, Family & Relationships
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Reviewed by Steven King, MBA
I’m sure all parents can relate–one of the most trying times in life is when your child hits the teenage years. An era where you go from “hero” to “zero” since your precious bundle has discovered there is more to life than you, your ideals, or your family. These are commonplace experiences that make instant fodder for sermon illustrations and late-night comedy episodes. A commensurate increase in use of headache medication can be measured in family medicine cabinets everywhere.
Unfortunately, not all ills can be solved with medication. Sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, teenagers end up in places you would have never imagined. Sneaking out, drugs, sexuality: the travesties that accompany wanting to live life without regulation cause many sleepless nights.
Any parent who has been there can relate. I know I can…I lived it personally. I had to make the tough decision to have a child put into residential placement for awhile.
There are times when you feel as if no one understands what you are dealing with. Conversations with family and colleagues results in furrowed brows that seem to say, “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you control your kid?” Tears well up inside because you feel the answer should be, “Apparently…I can’t.”
Sue Scheff has written a marvelous work in Wit’s End. The title adequately describes the frustration that parents in this circumstance face and the feelings they deal with. Wit’s End demonstrates the dilemma that Sue endured with her daughter–but more importantly, it provides tools to help the struggling parent who is considering residential therapy. Her suggestions are not “pie in the sky” wishful thinking as her experiences actually resulted in her founding Parents’ Universal Resources Experts, Inc (P.U.R.E.) to help families in turmoil.
I had occasion to correspond with Ms. Scheff before this book was published. If you are engaged in just such a dilemma this book is written for you.
Armchair Interview agrees.
Web sites:
http://www.SueScheff.com
http://www.WitsEndBook.com