In this new parenting book, psychotherapist Dr. Joanne Stern shares all the relationship-building principles and practices she’s developed by counseling parents and children. But this is no book of theory. As a mother for more than three decades — including five years as a single mom when her girls were little and later in a blended family when they were teenagers — she also delivers practical parenting advice based on her wealth of personal experiences. She gives you an inside look at how families function, or don’t, during life’s ups and downs.

Build a relationship with your children that’s so strong, nothing will sever it. From toddlerhood to the teen years and beyond, you can make “real” contact with your kids. You can form an unbreakable bond that makes you the person they want to share with — and gives you the opportunity to guide them in every phase of their lives.

“Through the moving and personal stories of my own family and my clients’ families, I present a simple recipe for making ‘real’ contact with your children — not just by hugging them, but by spending time with them, doing activities with them, and most of all, talking with them and being deeply involved in their day-to-day lives.”