The Optimistic Child: A Proven Program to Safeguard Children Against Depression and Build Lifelong Resilience

Over the past thirty years, the self-esteem movement has promoted the credo in American homes and classrooms that unconditional positive feedback is what children need to make them feel better about themselves. But even though we are raising our children to feel good, they have never been more depressed.

To examine and reverse this trend, the author, a leading psychologist who has been studying depression for three decades, developed a long-term research study with his colleagues called the Penn Depression Prevention Project. Their startling finds prove that teaching children to challenge their pessimistic thoughts can "immunize" them against depression. The Optimistic Child offers parents and teachers the tools developed in this study to teach children of all ages life skills that transform helplessness into mastery and bolster genuine self-esteem.