Setting limits for one’s child is one of the most challenging
tasks in parenting. The profusion of books and techniques on the
subject bespeaks parents’ need for guidance and support.
Although many books lay out sound principals about discipline
and limit setting, a book cannot tailor an approach specifically
for you and your child. Often parents come to us at their wits’
end because they feel they have tried every possible approach
and none of them has worked. At the Pacella Parent Child Center
we listen and observe carefully in order to figure out what is
interfering with each specific mother being able to set
effective limits with her child. Our belief at the Pacella
Parent Child Center is that limits, presented in a firm and
neutral way, are protective, loving, and necessary for healthy
development. Some underlying principles and ideas of our limit
setting approach: For parents who were themselves disciplined in
an angry, punitive way, setting neutral limits can be harder to
do. Sometimes such a parent mi