Dr. Dathan Paterno

Dr. Dathan A. Paterno is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who has honed his expertise with children and adolescents for over 20 years in psychiatric hospitals, therapeutic day schools, residential treatment centers, and private practices. He is the founder and Clinical Director of Park Ridge Psychological Services, a private practice that serves children, adolescents, and their families within an integrative framework. Dr. Paterno's unique perspective with children and their families rests on a parent-first philosophy. He believes that parents best serve their children by establishing and maintaining an appropriate hierarchy and by holding all children to very high standards of behavior. He rejects the popular notion that children cannot behave properly due to mental illnesses like ADHD. Dr. Paterno addresses his parenting philosophy and specific techniques for how to reclaim the family in his first book, Desperately Seeking Parents: Why Your Child Needs a Parent in Charge and How to Become One. The sequel, Alpha Parenting, should be in bookstores in 2015. His second book, Ladies & Gentleman, co-authored by Dr. Gina Loudon, addresses the cultural ideals and virtues espoused in the terms a lady and a gentleman's and calls media, governments, and parents to reclaim both the terms and the virtues inherent in them. Dr. Paterno is also a member of his children's local Board of Education, where he is attempting to stem the tide of Common Core and reclaim parents' primacy in their children's education. He is also a staunch supporter of homeschooling. Dr. Paterno lives just outside Chicago with his lovely wife and three wonderful children.