Child-Centered Parenting

Both experts and parents agree that raising children is one of life’s hardest, most challenging, and demanding jobs. It takes patience to raise children, but it can be extremely rewarding and fulfilling for parents to see their children attain maturity, having developed their own personalities, values, and ideas. In the parenting literature, several different styles of [Page 217]parenting are discussed as more prevalent in U.S. culture, and for counselors who may be working with parents or families, it is important to be aware of different parenting styles and the benefits and drawbacks of each. This entry briefly reviews popular parenting styles, including authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved parenting. Next, the entry focuses on the child-centered parenting approach, which gives autonomy to the child to be ...