Closing the Gap: A Strategy for Bringing Parents and Teens Together

Jay McGraw is the ideal person to write a book for parents and teens. A bestselling author by the age of twenty-one and son of number one bestseller Phillip C. McGraw, Ph.D., known to millions worldwide as Dr. Phil, Jay has seen the parent-teen battle from all angles. In this groundbreaking work, he introduces a new plan for both teens and their parents to work through the issues that divide them and, in the process, rediscover the love that initially defined their relationship. Jay works from both sides — sharing the perspectives of parent and teen as the former struggles for control, the latter for independence. He explains to parents how their teenagers wish to be treated, cared for, and even disciplined, and he shows teens how gaining power can come only from earning respect. In this entertaining, informative, and life-changing book, Jay gives instructions to both sides of the familial gap on: In finding a common ground and, even more important, a common respect for each other, parents and teens can break down the walls, unlock the doors, and welcome each other back into one another's lives again.