Bad Therapy

Have you heard about Abigail Shrier’s new book, “Bad Therapy: Why The Kids Aren’t Growing Up”? In the book, Shrier helps us to understand parenting approaches and habits we’ve adopted in recent years which are believed to produce happy, healthy and well-adjusted kids. As Christian parents, we should desire first and foremost to raise kids who launch into adulthood with the overarching goal of living their lives to the glory of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But this kind of well-intentioned but bad parenting Shrier calls out can also be adopted by Christian parents. Shrier writes, “We adopted a therapeutic approach to parenting. Successful parenting became a function with a single coefficient: our kids’ happiness at any given instant. An ideal childhood meant no pain, no discomfort, no fights, no failure – and absolutely no hint of trauma.” Parents, are we or are we not prepping our kids for the life of discipleship that requires taking up one’s cross and denying one’s self?