Parenting Books for Supporting Children's Mental Health

July 16, 2025

General Parenting & Mental Health

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson (2012)
Neuroscience-based guidance on nurturing children’s emotional intelligence and resilience.

Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive by Daniel J. Siegel & Mary Hartzell (2013)
Explores how parents’ own emotional histories shape how they relate to their children, fostering self-awareness and compassion.

No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson (2016)
Teaches calm, empathy-led approaches to discipline grounded in brain science.

The Joy of Parenting: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Guide to Effective Parenting in the Early Years by Lisa Coyne & Amy R. Murrell (2009)
Using Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), this book helps parents manage their emotions and parent with values.

Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be by Becky Kennedy (2021)
A guide to empathetic, strength-based parenting that emphasizes emotional growth for both parent and child.

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting by Dr. Laura Markham (2012)
Helps parents stop yelling and start connecting through empathy, emotional regulation, and loving guidance.

Playful Parenting: An Exciting New Approach to Raising Children That Will Help You Nurture Close Connections, Solve Behavior Problems, and Encourage Confidence by Lawrence J. Cohen (2002)
Reveals how play can be a powerful tool for managing behavior, healing emotional wounds, and building closeness.

Between Parent and Child: Revised and Updated: The Bestselling Classic That Revolutionized Parent-Child Communication by Dr. Haim G. Ginott (2003)
A timeless classic on how to speak so children feel understood, respected, and emotionally supported.

Coping with Change & Emotional Resilience

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown (2015)
Explores vulnerability and resilience, with applications for parenting through uncertainty and setbacks.

Confident Parents, Confident Kids: Raising Emotional Intelligence in Ourselves and Our Kids--from Toddlers to Teenagers by Jennifer S. Miller (2019)
Supports emotional intelligence in both parents and children, built on modeling and positive reinforcement.

The Everyday Parenting Toolkit: The Kazdin Method for Easy, Step-by-Step, Lasting Change for You and Your Child by Alan E. Kazdin & Carlo Rotella (2014)
Research-backed strategies for everyday challenges from routines to emotional support.

Parenting with Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility by Charles Fay & Foster Cline (2020)
Helps parents set boundaries with empathy and teach responsibility through calm guidance.

Raising Securely Attached Kids: Using Connection-Focused Parenting to Create Confidence, Empathy, and Resilience by Eli Harwood (2024)
Guides parents in building deep, emotionally secure relationships that foster resilience and lifelong confidence.

Supporting Children’s Mental Well-Being

Raising Mentally Strong Kids: How to Combine the Power of Neuroscience with Love and Logic to Grow Confident, Kind, Responsible, and Resilient Children and Young Adults by Daniel G. Amen & Charles Fay (2024)
Combines neuroscience and practical parenting techniques to foster confidence and resilience.

The Strength Switch: How The New Science of Strength-Based Parenting Can Help Your Child and Your Teen to Flourish by Lea Waters (2017)
Focuses on promoting children’s mental well-being through positive psychology and strengths-based parenting.

Love In, Love Out: a Compassionate Approach to Parenting Your Anxious Child by Malie Coyne (2020)
A compassionate, case-based guide to parenting anxious children with empathy and structure.

Helping Your Anxious Child: A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents by Ronald M. Rapee, Ann Wignall D, Susan Spence, Vanessa Cobham, and Heidi Lyneham (2022)
Clinical strategies to support children with anxiety—co-streamlined with real-world parenting stories.

The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross W. Greene (2021)
An empathetic, collaborative approach for parents of emotionally inflexible and easily frustrated kids.

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff (2022)
Explores wisdom from traditional cultures to help parents raise confident, kind, and capable kids without burnout.

Raising Critical Thinkers: A Parent's Guide to Growing Wise Kids in the Digital Age by Julie Bogart (2023)
Helps parents nurture thoughtful, curious, and resilient children in an age of information overload and digital noise.

Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids by Kim John Payne & Lisa M. Ross (2010)
Encourages a slower, more intentional family life that reduces stress and promotes emotional well-being for kids.

Relationship & Family Dynamics

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish (2012)
Enhances parent–child communication, conflict resolution, and emotional validation.

How To Talk So Kids Can Learn by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish (1996)
Shows how effective communication can reduce classroom struggles and help children become more engaged learners.

How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7 by Joanna Faber (2017)
Offers practical tools to handle everyday challenges with young kids in a way that builds cooperation and connection.

How to Talk When Kids Won't Listen: Whining, Fighting, Meltdowns, Defiance, and Other Challenges of Childhood by Joanna Faber (2021)
Equips parents with creative strategies to handle whining, tantrums, and defiance without power struggles.

How to Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish (2006)
Provides compassionate tools to improve communication and trust during the often-tricky teen years.

Liberated Parents, Liberated Children: Your Guide to a Happier Family by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish (2004)
Shows how shifting from control to connection can transform family dynamics and strengthen parent-child bonds.

The Power of Showing Up: How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become and How Their Brains Get Wired by Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson (2021)
Highlights the importance of parental presence and emotional safety in child development.

Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gabor Maté & Gordon Neufeld (2006)
Stresses parental emotional connection to counterbalance peer influence in growing children .

Trauma, Change & Self-Awareness in Parenting

Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive by Daniel J. Siegel M.D. & Mary Hartzell (2013)
Vital for processing personal childhood wounds to parent more thoughtfully.

Brain-Body Parenting: How to Stop Managing Behaviour and Start Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids by Mona Delahooke (2022)
Helps parents address behavioral and emotional regulation in children by attending to their sensory and neurological needs .

It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle by Mark Wolynn (2017)
Explores how intergenerational trauma may affect parenting patterns and offers healing strategies.

No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame by Janet Lansbury (2024)
A respectful guide to toddler discipline that helps parents set boundaries without shame or punishment.

Raising Good Humans: A Mindful Guide to Breaking the Cycle of Reactive Parenting and Raising Kind, Confident Kids by Hunter Clarke-Fields MSAE (2019)Teaches parents how to stay calm, break reactive patterns, and raise emotionally intelligent, compassionate kids.

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