Strength-Based Parenting-Being Positive as a Parent

Lea Waters, Ph.D., is President-Elect of the International Positive Psychology Association, Gerry Higgins Chair in Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and author of The Strength Switch: How the New Science of Strength-Based Parenting Can Help Your Child and Your Teen to Flourish. Dr. Waters discussed strength-based parenting, which focuses on sincerely praising children’s strengths rather than always trying to correct their weaknesses. She said her approach helps children recognize skills, talents and positive aspects of their personalities, and shows them how to make the most of those positive resources. She said the technique differs significantly from the “participation trophy” approach that was common in the past couple of generations of parenting.