Desde el principio

Each book is born with a purpose. The author knows the reason that prompts her to write it and knows what its meaning is. Sometimes it is difficult to make it understandable and others it is very simple. When Marta Giménez-Dasí decided to write this book, she had two clear objectives. The first was to make known what she herself had learned in the last twenty years about how children develop and about which of the actions carried out by mothers and fathers have an important impact on what they become. The second was to link developmental psychology with clinical practice and mental health prevention. Throughout the book there is talk about the plasticity of the human being and how it changes and adapts. There is always room to recover from adversity and deficiencies. But the plasticity of the first years of life gives this stage a very special character. It is a plasticity that enables many different developments. And the challenge at this stage is the possibilities it offers. If we adults take advantage of these possibilities, we can create a positive trajectory and the child will become an adult with a tendency towards well-being. If we adults do not know how to take advantage of this plasticity, it can, at best, waste a unique occasion and, at worst, complicate a career. The years and opportunities offered by plasticity have a limited time and when it ends it will never be recovered. The way of acting towards children in the early years is very important because, to a large extent, it determines the quality of mental health of future adults. For these reasons, in this book an update is made of what the science of human development has taught us in recent years and is aimed at all those people interested in the task of raising and educating children and who they seek evidence-based updating and guidelines.