The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child

“Easily assimilated and informative, the book will help adults enable children to lead physically and emotionally satisfying and well-rounded lives filled with purpose and meaningful relationships. Edifying, easy-to-consider scientific research that shows the benefits that accrue when a child is encouraged to be inquisitive, spirited, and intrepid.”—Kirkus Reviews

“This unique and exciting book shows us how to help children embrace life with all of its challenges and thrive in the modern world. Integrating research from social development, clinical psychology, and neuroscience, it’s a veritable treasure chest of parenting insights and techniques.”—Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., writer of Mindset 

“In today’s busy, competitive culture, allowing our children the space to be themselves is more important than ever. This book provides an escape hatch from the high-stakes mindset. It’s a parent’s guide to ensuring health, happiness, and genuine success—a blueprint for raising confident, creative kids in a fear-based world. It’s never too late to implement the science-based strategies that Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson share.”—Vicki Abeles, producer and co-director, The Race to Nowhere and Beyond Measure
 
“Bottom line: Every parent wants to raise a strong-minded, resilient, caring child. We just don’t know exactly how; we open our mouths and we sing our parents’ tired refrain, ‘No . . . no . . . no.’ In The Yes Brain, Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson teach us how to cultivate a receptive, curious brain in our children. I have never read a better, clearer explanation of the have an effect on parenting can have on a child’s brain and personality.”—Michael Thompson, Ph.D., co-writer of Raising Cain
 
“Today’s parents find their children’s behavior mystifying. ‘I never would have spoken that way to—or refused to cooperate with—my parents!’ The use of refreshingly clear explanations of neuroscience and child development, coupled with practical, straightforward guidance, The Yes Brain arrives just in time! Siegel and Bryson lead parents and children out of puzzling impasses and into mutual understanding and appreciation. The book gives them the tools and courage needed to face the challenges of our all of a sudden changing world.”—Wendy Mogel, writer of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee and The Blessing of a B-
 
“In the flurry of activity that makes up our day-to-day parenting lives, it is easy to lose sight of the big picture: we aren’t just raising children; we’re raising adults. The Yes Brain offers clear strategies for fostering balance, empathy, and self-regulation in our children to not only help them manage today’s bumps and tumbles, but to nurture in them the resources that will allow them to enjoy happy, healthy grown-up lives. An invaluable resource that I’ll be recommending to parents for future years!”—Susan Stiffelman, MFT, writer of Parenting Without Power Struggles

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, the founding co-director of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, and executive director of the Mindsight Institute. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Siegel is the writer of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers Brainstorm, Mind, and, with Tina Payne Bryson, The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline. He is also the writer of the bestsellers Mindsight and, with Mary Hartzell, Parenting from the Inside Out. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, with welcome visits from their adult son and daughter.

Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., is the co-writer, with Daniel J. Siegel, of two New York Times bestsellers, The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline. She is the founder and executive director of the Center for Connection, an interdisciplinary clinical team in Pasadena, California. She is a licensed clinical social worker, providing pediatric and adolescent psychotherapy and parenting consultations. As well, she keynotes conferences and conducts workshops for parents, educators, and clinicians in every single place the world. Dr. Bryson earned her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children.