In 1979 David and Phyllis York, both trained family therapists and substance abuse counselors, created the original ToughLOVE® program.

Although they were accomplished therapists working with teenagers and families in crisis, they were also average middle class parents raising three daughters and facing many of the same challenges as their patients. To cope with and manage their own feelings and frustrations, the Yorks developed an innovative approach to parenting, which they defined as holding fast and taking a stand, recognizing that setting limits and expectations are the most loving things a parent can do for a child.

At the same time the Yorks had a critical insight about ToughLOVE parenting: when carrying out a plan to set and enforce appropriate limits, parents need active peer-to-peer support in order to stick with it. With this insight, they created their first support group.

Soon after forming the first ToughLOVE group, the Yorks began getting requests for their program. Advice columnist Ann Landers became one of the York's biggest advocates, frequently referring her readers to ToughLOVE. After the first mention, ToughLOVE received over 15,000 correspondence in the ensuing week. In response to the vast interest from families everywhere, the Yorks revolutionized parenting education with their best-selling book titled TOUGHLOVE (Doubleday, 1982). Thus the movement began, quickly attracting followers and acclaim worldwide.

The Yorks received awards and accolades from many organizations, luminaries and politicians from across the country including former First Lady Nancy Reagan. They were guests on radio and TV talk shows, such as Oprah Winfrey and Larry King, and were profiled dozens of times in print. In 1985 the original TOUGHLOVE book was made into an ABC Movie of the Week and attracted one of the highest ratings ever for a made-for-TV movie.

ToughLOVE became a phenomenon of an organization, ultimately attracting thousands of groups in the U.S. and abroad, touching millions of parents through its group meetings, seminars, and books, and creating a brand name that's synonymous with taking charge and changing lives.

Since its founding in 1979, more than 2 million parents have been active Members of ToughLOVE, joining or forming thousands of support groups worldwide. We're proud so many parents and families have counted on the ToughLOVE program for help with mastering the most important, challenging, enduring job there is: being a great parent.

ToughLOVE has undergone significant change, becoming a private, for-profit enterprise. Our motivation for this change is simple: to get bigger and better. By joining purpose and profit, we will be able to offer our program to more parents while exceeding our historical standards of excellence and expanding the resources available to our Members. We believe the Company's ambitions for growth and the market for its products and services will be well aligned for many years.

At ToughLOVE, we're honored by the praise and validation our program receives from individuals, communities, schools, governments, the allied health services, political leaders, and the media. We're humbled by how deeply ToughLOVE is trusted and relied upon and even demanded by parents and communities. We're motivated to revive the ToughLOVE movement, whose name, meaning, and most of all, effectiveness, is unique in the fields of parenting and self-help.

As we enhance the ToughLOVE program, expand our line of products and services, and reach more and more parents and communities, we are guided by these values:

We will standardize excellence in everything we do;

We'll treat every ToughLOVE stakeholder--Members, communities, employees, investors, partners--according to The Golden Rule;

We'll act on our belief that if the Company does good, it will do well.

Igal Jonathan Feibush
Chief Executive Officer

Igal J. Feibush
Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer

For the past four years, Mr. Feibush has served the Company full-time, leading its development and its transition from a nonprofit to a private, for-profit company. For two years, he also sat on the Board of Directors of the nonprofit ToughLOVE organization. Mr. Feibush joined ToughLOVE after a successful career in real estate, most recently as an investor and syndicator. He was the founder, chairman, and CEO of Citi Habitats, which under his leadership for seven years was the fastest growing real estate brokerage in New York. Mr. Feibush had P&L responsibility, managed more than 500 sales and support staff in 11 offices, and presided over its growth to annual revenue of $75 million. After selling his interest in the firm, it was acquired by a division of Cendant Corporation. While running Citi Habitats, Mr. Feibush was nominated for Crain’s magazine’s prestigious “40 Under Forty,” an annual award given to New York’s leading businesspeople under age forty. He attended the University of Maryland and the State University of New York (SUNY), Albany. He is the proud father of one daughter.

Stacy Kaiser
Chief Program Officer

Ms. Kaiser is a licensed psychotherapist, relationship expert, and media personality. She is the author of a forthcoming book, How to be a Grown Up (HarperOne, 2010). Recently, Stacy has co-starred on two substantive reality shows (on VH1 and Lifetime) and she has made about 100 appearances on major news and entertainment shows just in the past year. In addition, she has had a private practice for individuals and families and has been engaged to make speeches and run workshops for prominent organizations, including the FBI and Kaiser Permanente. For the past 15 years, Stacy has also worked with Southern California's premier family resource center, Friends of the Family, where she works with battered women, teen parents, abused children, and families in crisis. Ms. Kaiser received a B.A. in psychology from California State University, Northridge and an M.A. in clinical psychology from Pepperdine. Stacy is the mother of two adolescent children.

Denise Brodey
Chief Brand Officer

Ms. Brodey has held high level positions at four major women's magazines. Denise was editor-in-chief of Fitness, executive editor of Shape, deputy editor of Glamour, and lifestyle editor of Self. During her tenure at Fitness, the magazine won 15 health reporting awards and broke new ground covering women's issues. Brodey's writing on women and health has appeared in the New York Times, Prevention, Child, People, and O: The Oprah Magazine. She is the author of a book about parenting special needs children called The Elephant in the Playroom (Hudson Street Press), which was named a Library Journal Best Book in 2007. Recently, Brodey has been a brand consultant, focusing on health and wellness, for clients including NBC, Meredith Integrated Marketing and Sun-Maid Products. Brodey is recognized as one of the country's leading experts on women's wellness and has appeared regularly on television's morning talk shows. Denise is a graduate of Barnard College and the mother of two adolescent kids.