The Strong Sensitive Boy

Written by Ted Zeff, PhD and Elaine Aron

Narrated by Stephen Bel Davies

Does your son tend to be disturbed by loud noises, violence, and crowds, fearful of new situations, easily hurt by criticism, or hesitant about playing aggressive games?

Your son may be one of the twenty percent of all boys with a finely tuned nervous system. Our sensitive boys tend to be creative, kind, and gentle, appreciating beauty and feeling love deeply. Therefore, it's particularly challenging for sensitive boys to grow up in a culture where boys are taught to act tough, aggressive, and unemotional.

In this groundbreaking book, psychologist Ted Zeff explores the unique challenges of sensitive boys, showing parents, educators, and mentors how to help sensitive boys grow into strong, happy, and confident men. Dr. Zeff offers practical advice on how to help your son increase his self-esteem and thrive in the family, at school, with friends, and in sports.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781977384706

Reviews for The Strong Sensitive Boy

[nml_dc · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book was disappointing. I really wanted to appreciate it, but the best I can do is appreciate that it exists and is decently written. Elaine Aron's The Highly Sensitive Child is much better, more thorough and more specific. In particular, the inclusion here of bioessentialism with regard to brain development (mostly debunked) and hormones was off-putting to say the least. If you have any familiarity with the way that the expectations of American masculinity pressure boys to repress their feelings and act aggressively, you will be able to understand the implications of Elaine Aron's book for your boy. All of the supportive approaches she recommends are necessary, with additional attention to having positive sensitive male role models for boys and explicitly praising and appreciating their gentleness as a strength (as these are areas where culture is harder on boys than girls). Otherwise, advice about school choices, physical environment, advocating with other adults, and assisting with peer relationships all apply.

[alisony-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I am the lucky mother of (as well as a beautiful daughter) an 8 year old boy who is very loving, bright, well mannered, and.... super sensitive. Although he does very well academically at school, he sometimes struggles to fit in a little bit in a class where most of the boys tend to be very rough and tumble.I'm not sure what I hoped to get out of this book - perhaps some tips on how to help him cope with the school "banter" a bit more, and to get some insight on what potentially goes on inside his head, as he takes the slightest telling off massively to heart and worries about just about everything.Zeff has written this book on the basis of conversations with 30 "sensitive men", and to be honest the whole book felt very weak. He tried to make scientific statements with no scientific data to back them up - he'd just wheel out one of his 30 chaps as an example when it suited him, and it was by no stretch of the imagination a proper psychological study on a specific personality type. By the end of the book Zeff wanted us parents of sensitive boys to be talking to our child's teacher about our 'sensitive boy's special understanding' needed in the classroom environment. By this stage I was just cross - that would be the last thing my child would want me to do, and it would send a hugely negative message to him about what is, after all, a lovely personality type to have.1.5 stars - I'm binning this rubbish and just thanking my lucky stars I've been blessed with such a caring and lovely child.

[franklyncee · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The author may be an expert in the subject (?) but the advice in this book appears to be based on his own experiences, feelings, and preferences and the results of a cross-cultural study (participants from 4 countries) of a total of 30 grown men and their reflections and experience.