Our philosophy is simple: Children want to please. They respond to interest and affection and respect from adults with hard work, creativity and enthusiasm. They respond to physical punishment, humiliation, neglect and hostility with negativism, non-cooperation. They neither work nor learn. They respond by coming to think of themselves as deserving the punishment and put-downs they receive.

Our science is good: we have research reports by the hundreds supporting our philosophy.

We don't believe in permissiveness either, if by this it is meant ignoring all responsibility for guiding and communicating with children.

We do believe in permitting children to develop in freedom within a gentle, encouraging, stimulating environment and thus come to think of themselves as worthy, valuable persons, not sinful or delinquent ones.We are clinicians with much experience with real children as much as we are theoreticians. We have raised eminently lovable and extremely well functioning, unspanked children.