PRESS ROOM - Interview Topics

Interview topics for Annye Rothenberg, Ph.D.
Child/Parent Psychologist and Adjunct Faculty in Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine
Author of  Mommy and Daddy Are Always Supposed to Say Yes … Aren’t They?, Why Do I Have To?, I Like To Eat Treats, I Don't Want To Go To The Toilet, I Want To Make Friends, and I'm Getting Ready For Kindergarten and the first in her elementary series, Why Can't I Be the Boss of Me?

Dr. Rothenberg can be interviewed by telephone and is an entertaining, knowledgeable, articulate, and confident guest for radio or television. She can speak on many topics of interest to your readers, listeners, or viewers, such as those below:

Preschoolers and Parents' Topics

Child-Rearing Basics

• What’s the sure way to build self-esteem in children?
• Why are parents just settling for problems with their children?
• Why do parents feel so guilty? And why do they think their child’s views and feelings are more important than theirs?
• What should parents do when they have to make rules and their children want to break rules?
• What are the practical ways to minimize the difference in approaches to child rearing and decrease the tension between spouses?
• Why do parents believe that their children don’t need to apologize unless they feel like it?  
• What do parents need to know about how much to expect of their children at preschool age, and why don’t they know it?
• What will be the problems – now and in the future – for children who are overindulged?

Understanding Young Children

• How to raise children to be confident, competent, and content without being spoiled … why isn’t that happening?
• How do preschoolers think and how much to expect.
• Rules we should have and why they’re important for now and later – internalizing rules helps kids be able to have inner discipline and essential life habits.
• Getting preschoolers to cooperate and why we need to use special techniques for their age.
• What are reasonable consequences and what aren’t?
• Problems with using a pure reward/punishment system in raising children.
• Mom/Dad differences … why they’re actually valuable and how parents can work  together in child-rearing.
• The effect of guilt on parenting and why parents who work and those who don’t feel it and show it in their parenting.

Young Children's Eating Issues

• How to start children off with the right attitude toward food.
• How to teach kids to stay at the table.
• How to get children to eat healthy food.
• How should parents handle picky eaters?
• How can parents cope with children who overeat?
• What should parents do if a child is too sedentary?

Toileting Issues

• Why is toileting hard for some children?
• When and how to get started.
• How to motivate children to get toilet trained.
• What if your child isn't interested and resists?
• What if your child is afraid?
• How to deal with accidents.
• What to do if your child withholds his poops day after day?

Making Friends

• Why are more kids having difficulty making friends?
• What's important to teach our kids so they will become socially considerate?
• What to do when your child says "no one wants to play with me"
• How can you start young to "bully-proof" your child?

Getting Ready for Kindergarten

• What should children know to start kindergarten?
• What are the common questions children have about kindergarten?
• What skills does a child need for kindergarten success and how do parents know if he or she has them?
• If a child needs more preparation for kindergarten, how exactly does a parent do that?
• How do parents decide whether to have their child wait another year before starting kindergarten?
  

Elementary School Children and Parents' Topics

Why Can't I Be the Boss of Me?

• Why school age children expect to get their way?
• What can parents do to help their kids accept their parents as the leaders of the family?
• How much to expect of 5 to 8-year-olds.
• How to teach age-appropriate problem-solving and decision-making skills to elementary school children.
• How can parents work together more effectively?

Dr. Annye Rothenberg can be contacted at (650) 364-4466.