Two clinical social workers offer clinicians, educators, coaches, and other youth counselors the first professional book that focuses on engaging authentically with teens in order to create lasting change. Anyone who works with teens should read this book. If you work with teens, you know they are notoriously challenging to communicate with. And when teens are resistant to help, they may respond by acting defiant, guarded, defensive, rude, or even outright hostile. In turn, you may respond by reasserting your authority—resulting in an endless power struggle. So how can you break the cycle and start connecting? In What Works with Teens, you’ll discover the core skills that research shows underlie all effective work with teens. You'll learn how to engage authentically with teens, create an atmosphere of mutual respect, and use humor to establish a deeper connection. Many books offer evidence-based approaches to treating teens, but very little information on how to establish and maintain a productive working relationship. This is the first trans-therapeutic book to provide real tools for creating a positive relationship with teens to help bolster effective treatment. Whether your background is in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), psychotherapy, or any other treatment background, if you are looking for more effective ways to connect with teens and are ready for a program that really works, this book is a vital addition to your professional library.

In this New York Times–bestselling book, Dr. Daniel Siegel shows parents how to turn one of the most challenging developmental periods in their children’s lives into one of the most rewarding. Between the ages of twelve and twenty-four, the brain changes in important and, at times, challenging ways. In Brainstorm, Dr. Daniel Siegel busts a number of commonly held myths about adolescence—for example, that it is merely a stage of “immaturity” filled with often “crazy” behavior. According to Siegel, during adolescence we learn vital skills, such as how to leave home and enter the larger world, connect deeply with others, and safely experiment and take risks. Drawing on important new research in the field of interpersonal neurobiology, Siegel explores exciting ways in which understanding how the brain functions can improve the lives of adolescents, making their relationships more fulfilling and less lonely and distressing on both sides of the generational divide.

Expert, authoritative guidance you can trust on helping your teenager cope with the changes and challenges of adolescence, from The American Academy of Pediatrics. The critical, life-shaping years between twelve and twenty-one have been called the “turbulent teens.” But adolescence doesn’t have to be a time of anxiety and upheaval--for either teenagers or their parents. In this comprehensive, down-to-earth guide, the nation’s leading authority on the care of children helps parents and caregivers guide teenagers through the successful transition into young adulthood. Combining practical parenting advice with the latest medical, psychological, and scientific research, and covering every aspect of a teenager’s growth and development, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Caring for Your Teenager offers indispensable information on: • The stages of adolescence--what defines normal physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development • Setting rules and limits--helping teenagers grow into responsible adults • The twelve building blocks of self-esteem--from feelings of security and belonging to decision making, pride, and trust • Instilling values and strengthening family ties • The problem of peer pressure: giving your child the confidence to handle it • Hormones--easing teenagers’ anxieties about their changing bodies • Safeguarding your teenager from sexually transmitted diseases • Adapting to different family types--from single-parent to adoptive to blended • Helping your teenager cope with serious illness or death in the family, sibling rivalry, separation, or divorce Plus • Helping your teenager find the right college--or make an alternative choice • Teens, the Internet, and the law • A comprehensive medical guide to common ailments . . . and much more Caring for Your Teenager is the one guide that no one entrusted with the care of a teenage child should be without--a book that provides parents with all the information they need to ensure that their child is on the right track to becoming a happy, healthy adult.

If you could only get past feelings of embarrassment, fear, self-criticism, and self-doubt, how would your life be different? You might take more chances and make more mistakes, but you’d also be able to live more freely and confidently than ever before. Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life for Teens is a workbook that provides you with essential skills for coping with the difficult and sometimes overwhelming emotions that stress you out and cause you pain. The emotions aren’t going anywhere, but you can find out how to deal with them. Once you do, you will become a mindful warrior—a strong person who handles tough emotions with grace and dignity—and gain many more friends and accomplishments along the way. Based in proven-effective acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), this book will arm you with powerful skills to help you use the power of mindfulness in everyday situations, stop finding faults in yourself and start solving your problems, how to be kinder to yourself so you feel confident and have a greater sense of self-worth, and how to identify the values that will help you create the life of your dreams.

In recent years a dizzying array of programs has emerged to meet the needs of struggling teens and their families-wilderness therapy programs, therapeutic boarding schools, alternative schools, mentoring and court diversion programs, independent living programs, and myriad day treatment and partial hospitalization services. Yet not all of these offerings employ mental health professionals or follow evidence-based treatment protocols. Some programs are licensed and accredited, but many are not, and some use techniques that are highly controversial, even abusive, resulting in injury and accidental death. Frederic G. Reamer and Deborah H. Siegel have written the first scholarly book on this influential and controversial industry. They begin with a time line of Americans' changing attitudes toward challenging teens and the programs and schools established to handle this population. Then they summarize reputable organizations, including a selection of community-based and residential programs and schools, and provide brief descriptions of typical services. The authors candidly discuss a number of troubling scandals and tragedies, exposing the tragic consequences of emotionally and physically abusive practices, and recommend a range of empirically sound interventions for the clinical challenges of adolescent depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, oppositional behavior, eating disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The authors conclude with a blueprint for reform and twenty "best practice" principles relating to harm prevention, program-based discipline, industry regulation, quality assurance, parental involvement, staff education, and after-care services.

This book offers clear, actionable ways for parents and educators to create and strengthen relationships with teens during a key time of growth and development. With an emphasis on mindfulness, non-violent communication, and rooted in what we know about brain and social development during the adolescent years, this book is a great resource for anyone who is struggling to understand how to support and connect with young people. It includes practical information and activities designed to help spur adults to reflect on their goals as well as unearth their hidden biases about teens and how to direct them. Happy, Healthy Teens focuses on small ways to make a big difference in how teens see themselves and experience their interactions with us and it will help you be more intentional in your choices as you navigate the challenges of the adolescent years. Creating strong, foundational relationships with young people during these years has an enormous, lasting impact on their ability to become adults who are confident, compassionate, and part of a healthy community.

If life with your teen has become a battleground, it's time to take action. This empathic book shows how. Trusted psychologists who have worked with thousands of families give you the tools you need to overcome defiance and get teen behavior back on track. By following the authors' clinically proven 10-step program, learn how you can: *Reestablish your authority while building trust. *Identify and enforce nonnegotiable rules. *Use rewards and incentives that work. *Communicate and problem-solve effectively--even in the heat of the moment. *Restore positive feelings in your relationship. *Develop your teen's skills for becoming a successful adult. Vivid stories and answers to frequently asked questions help you put the techniques into action. The updated second edition incorporates new scientific research on why some teens have more problems with self-control than others. Practical forms and worksheets can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. Mental health professionals, see also the authors' Defiant Teens, Second Edition: A Clinician's Manual for Assessment and Family Intervention. For a focus on younger children, see also Dr. Barkley's Defiant Children, Third Edition (for professionals), and Your Defiant Child, Second Edition (for parents).