How to Raise a Healthy Gamer - by Alok Kanojia (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A former gamer and Harvard-trained psychiatrist offers a proven, tested plan to help parents define, set, and reinforce healthy boundaries around video games and help kids who have developed an addiction to gaming.

"I highly recommend this calm, structured, and nurturing approach to better and less screen use."--Tina Payne Bryson, PhD, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline

How much should I let them play? How do I get them to be interested in anything else?!

When it comes to family rules around video games, most parents are at a loss. After all, our technologically invasive world is something previous generations didn't have to wrestle with, so we have no model for how to guide our families through the rapidly changing landscape, no blueprint for setting healthy gaming boundaries and keeping them in place.

A former Harvard Medical School instructor and one of the foremost experts on video game psychology, Dr. Alok Kanojia--known as "Dr. K" to his millions of followers--has firsthand knowledge of this modern issue: He needed professional help to break his own gaming habits in college, an experience that fueled his interest in learning how to help others. Drawing on Dr. K's professional specialization in working with people of all ages and varying degrees of addiction, and the most recent research from neuroscience and psychology, How to Raise a Healthy Gamer teaches parents a new skill set for negotiating gaming culture and offers solutions rooted in the science of treating addiction, including:

- An eight-week, step-by-step road map for setting, enforcing, and troubleshooting healthy gaming boundaries.
- Advice on how to react when your child becomes irritable, rude, or seemingly directionless.
- Essential communication strategies for reaching kids who have developed a serious gaming problem.
- The neuroscientific and psychological reasons that children gravitate to video games and how to help them meet these needs in real life.
- Insights and advice on dealing with behavioral issues that often accompany game use: ADHD, spectrum disorders, and substance abuse.

Whether your goal is to prepare your child for a healthy relationship to technology or to curb unhealthy amounts of time spent gaming, How to Raise a Healthy Gamer will help you better understand, communicate with, and--ultimately--empower your gaming enthusiast to live their best life.

Review Quotes

"Of all the questions parents ask me as a child psychiatrist, the most common one--by far--is how to handle their children's use of screens. This groundbreaking instant classic of a book answers that question definitively. Clear, persuasive, and rooted in the most current research as well as the wisdom of the ages, How to Raise a Healthy Gamer is the book you've been looking for--not only for your child but for yourself as well!"--Edward Hallowell, MD, author of Driven to Distraction and ADHD 2.0

"In homes everywhere, negotiations around gaming are tiresome and heated. Dr. Kanojia's approach allows your child to be part of the solution--a valuable component to both reducing the combativeness that often accompanies these negotiations and to staying in close relationship with them. I highly recommend this calm, structured, and nurturing approach to better and less screen use."--Tina Payne Bryson, PhD, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline

"Among the most important decisions we make about our parenting, screen use and--in particular--gaming will define our family. This groundbreaking book will give you what you need to come to an informed and sensible resolution that works for you. It's a book that will give you the strength to live within your values and that will support your hope for a family that is deeply connected."--Kim John Payne, author of Simplicity Parenting and The Soul of Discipline

About the Author

Alok Kanojia, MD, MPH, also known as "Dr. K," is a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine and did his psychiatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and McLean Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A former Harvard Medical School instructor specializing in mental health for the gaming community, he is the president and cofounder of Healthy Gamer, a mental health platform that provides content, coaching, and community resources to help young people take control of their mental health and their lives. A highly sought-after speaker and media expert, he and his wife live in Texas with their two gamer daughters.