Praise for Susan’s work
“Shows parents how they can transform parenting into a spiritual practice….Yes, children produce adults, but, more important, Susan Stiffelman’s unique book shows you how children can produce conscious adults.”
Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now
“I’ve led a community of hundreds of thousands of parents for six years, and during that time I’ve recommended only one parenting book: Parenting Without Power Struggles. Now I finally have one more to insist they read: Parenting with Presence. I trust Susan Stiffelman with my heart, my family, and my community because she understands that parenting is not just a job but a spiritual practice — a path to healing, to truth, to God. She knows that what goes on in my home every day brutal and beautiful and hard and holy. She understands that while we are raising our children, we are still raising ourselves. In Parenting with Presence, Susan comes alongside parents not only as an expert but as a guide, a counselor, a friend, a healer. This book will help adults heal so they can raise children who need a little less healing.”
Glennon Doyle, author of the New York Times bestseller Untamed and Carry On, Warrior Momastery.com
“Susan loves children and loves supporting parents who are raising children. She understands the power of sane parenting.”
Byron Katie, author of Loving What Is
“Brilliant, warm, and passionate about her work, Susan instantly comes to mind when parents ask me for help with their teens and grade school kids. She has an intuitive grasp of the complexities of parent-child dynamics and what’s needed to shift them in the most positive direction.”
Janet Lansbury, author of No Bad Kids and Elevating Child Care
“Parenting Without Power Struggles is one of the best parenting books I have ever read.”
Arianna Huffington
“This is exactly the advice and support you need as a parent! Seasoned, wise, and practical, Parentign with Presence helps parents take a deep breath and tend to themselves and their kids with compassion, love, and mindfulness.”
Jack Kornfield, author of A Path of Heart, and Trudy Goodman, founder of Insight LA
“An empathic tenderness runs through this wise and down-to-earth guide to parenting with greater awareness. You can feel the love that Susan Stiffelman has for the families she works with in her therapy practice and her confidence in all of us to grow into the challenges and gifts of being a parent. This book offers a beautiful, multifaceted articulation of what our children most need from us, and practices for both developing these competencies and drawing upon them for our children and for ourselves.”
Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn, authors of Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting
“With her clear, wise, soulful, and poetic writing, Susan Stiffelman shows us how both the blessings and challenges of the delicate child-parent relationship can be a hotbed for mutual growth, healing, and connection. With children determining the future of our planet, Susan lays the groundwork for us to usher this new generation toward a more healed, humane, and connected world, starting with our very own selves. I am so grateful to Susan for having written this powerful book.”
Alanis Morissette, singer/songwriter and activist
“It changed my life. I’m going to search high and low for this woman’s number because I’ve learned so much.”
Jessica Seinfeld
“Parenting with Presence is a gentle but powerful reminder that our own awareness, our own calmness, and our ability to respond and not react to stressful situations are fundamental to raising healthy kids. It’s more about us as parents than it is about them as children. And if we do the work on ourselves, then we can be circuit breakers for the flow of negative energy that escalates stressful situations. This is an important work.”
Tim Ryan, US Representative from Ohio and author of A Mindful Nation
“The core secret revealed in Parenting with Presence is that presence is the only effective way to interact with children. Presence includes support and structure — with that, children thrive; without that, children experience chaos, and parenting can be a nightmare. The second secret is that parenting is a growth process, and your child is your best teacher. Understanding both secrets prevents parenting that nurtures without structure and parenting that shapes without nurture. This book brings new awareness about a parenting process that increases the health of our culture itself. Recommended to all parents and parents-to-be.”
Harville Hendrix, PhD, and Helen LaKelly Hunt, PhD, authors of Giving the Love That Heals: A Guide for Parents
“In Parenting with Presence, renowned expert Susan Stiffelman offers a unique way to bring up our children that combines both wisdom and compassion. Thoroughly practical, her approaches help parents create a strong basis for a truly loving and compassionate connection with our children, while also bringing out the best from us–our presence, joy, understanding, and kindness.”.”
Thupten Jinpa, principle English translator to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and author of A Fearless Heart
“[Susan] provides wise and creative ways for parents to skillfully support their children to develop their unique talents and gifts in such a way that you both will experience a rich, satisfying relationship for a lifetime.”
Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith, Founder of Agape International Spiritual Center
“Susan Stiffelman, who has double standing to give parenting advice, as a professional therapist and as the mother of an exceptional son, has hit the nail on the head twice over..her book is filled with practical, real-world ways to minimize the fights and maximize the love.”
Kurt Andersen, novelist and host of public radio’s Studio 360
“Susan is one the most gifted and insightful family therapists I have ever come across and my only regret is that I didn’t find her sooner! Parenting Without Power Struggles…is the new parenting bible in my house!”
Laurie David, author of The Family Dinner and co-producer of An Inconvenient Truth
“When I read Susan Stiffelman’s writing or hear her speak, it’s like I’m glimpsing the future of parenting. And if we’re smart, it will be. Nobody combines deep expertise with real-world wisdom so powerfully and memorably.”
William Powers, author of Hamlet’s Blackberry
