Two out of every five people in the U.S. regard themselves as "shy." Yet shyness can be cured, says Dr. Philip Zimbardo, the nation's leading authority on shyness. With co-author Shirley Radl, Dr. Zimbardo presents a program for overcoming and preventing shyness from infancy to adulthood. The book is based on pioneering research conducted at the Stanford Shyness Clinic, including surveys of children, parents and teachers in the U.S. and abroad. It documents which parenting "style" encourages self-confidence in a child, offers help for the problems of being shy and provides methods for building a child's trust and self-esteem. The Shy Child explores the role that school plays in contributing to a child's shyness, and suggests ways to improve the quality of the classroom experience for every child. It's the only book to provide an effective program for conquering childhood shyness, before it has a chance to limit a child's options and determine the course of his or her life.