Aletha Jauch Solter (born 1945) is a Swiss/American developmental psychologist who studied with Jean Piaget in Switzerland before earning a PhD in psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her specialist areas are attachment, psychological trauma, and non-punitive discipline. In 1990 she founded The Aware Parenting Institute, an international organization with certified instructors in many countries. She has written six books and led workshops for parents and professionals in 18 countries Her work combines attachment parenting principles with an understanding of the impact of stress and trauma, and it can help families who are struggling with sleep, discipline, and emotional health issues. A controlled pilot study was conducted in Australia to evaluate the effectiveness of some aspects of the Aware Parenting approach in a brief parent education program. The researchers found that the program increased parents’ feelings of self-efficacy Another pilot study was done in Ireland to teach one aspect of Aware Parenting (Attachment Play) to social workers, who then trained parents to implement the approach. The training helped parents engage playfully with children, strengthen attachment, enhance cooperation, reduce behavior problems, and avoid the use of punishment.

Selected works

Books

Aletha Solter has written six books describing the Aware Parenting approach, which have been translated into many languages.

Articles