He provides assessments and psychotherapy to children and adults, in addition to consulting with schools, teachers, and psychologists. The heart of his message is that children learn through the experience of non-catastrophic, painful failure, and it is through the process of these failures that they mature into resilient, resourceful, and emotionally balanced individuals. Parents need to see failing—whether it’s a test, a course, or a tryout for a team—as a normal part of growing up and not a sign of parental incompetence. In Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the Age of Entitlement (co-authored by journalist Tim Falconer) and on stage, he offers a fresh perspective on raising children that is reassuringly familiar and strikingly sensible.