Siblings Without Rivalry

Course content includes

1. Helping Siblings Deal with Their Feelings About Each Other

  What happens to brothers and sisters when their hostile feelings about each other are ignored or denied? Four specific methods for helping children express their negative feelings to each other without doing damage.

2. Keeping Children Separate and Unequal

  How siblings react when they are compared to each other-unfavorably or even favorably. Effective alternatives to comparisons. How siblings feel about always being treated equally. Ways to treat children unequally and still be fair.

3. Siblings in Roles

  Why brothers and sister are often cast, and cast each other, into different roles. A look at how powerfully these roles affect their relationships with each other. Skills that free each child to become his or her most whole self.

4. When the Kids Fight

  What can you do when fighting breaks out between the children? An exploration of commonly used strategies that backfire. A chance to practice the skills that reduce rage and motivate children to work out their own solutions.

5. Problem Solving

  A method for helping children deal with the problems they can't work out for themselves. A simple ten-step approach that enables adults to sit down with the young combatants so that they can move toward resolving their conflicts.

6. A Final Review

  Time to review and consolidate your skills. Exercises give you practice in applying everything you learned to potentially explosive situations. Finally, an opportunity to take a second look at your own adult sibling relationships from your new perspective.