Having counseled families for more than 25 years, Michelle Anthony is well-acquainted with a variety of parenting methods. The author of several books, Anthony is also vice president of learning resources at David C Cook, which releases her new book, Becoming a Spiritually Healthy Family: Avoiding the 6 Dysfunctional Parenting Styles (9780781411394, $15.99), this month.

The book opens by comparing life to filmmaking. Anthony asserts that while God is the writer and director of each life, people often want to control their own destinies rather than follow God’s script—which leads to parental dysfunction.

Anthony uses stories from the Scriptures and modern families to illustrate six unhealthy parenting styles, including “The Driver Parent” and “The Double-Minded Parent.” But in a spiritually healthy family, parents extend grace and help their children see God’s path. They see beyond their children’s immediate behaviors to the goal of faith formation.

Spiritually healthy families are “families working together as loving cast members, discovering the intimate beauty of watching the character development of each person unfold—in the midst of the  messiness,” she writes.

Anthony said changing one’s parenting style is “a process in which the Holy Spirit will work on you (and with you) ‘deep down’ over time.”

To order Becoming a Spiritually Healthy Family, visit davidccook.com.

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