Adolescent Mental Health

With the number and variety of mental health issues affecting kids on the rise, and as more clinicians and counselors are pushed to the front lines of defense, there is an acute need for a comprehensive, practical resource that guides professionals through the complexities of child and adolescent mental health. This comprehensive book—now in its third edition—answers that call.

Dr Billy Garvey is a senior specialist at one of the world's biggest and most prestigious paediatric hospitals. With over twenty years' experience working with families, he wants to reassure parents that there is no such thing as a bad child and that much of what he tells families in clinic is based on the same principles he outlines in this book. Regardless of whether you have a young child or a teen on the brink of adulthood, by understanding the foundations of good mental health you will be able to help them to thrive at any stage in their development.

Delve into the complexities of youth mental health. This comprehensive book covers the spectrum from neuropsychological development nuances to cutting-edge treatments for anxiety and depression in young people. Gain a deep understanding of the theoretical and practical foundations of child and adolescent psychiatry, presented in an accessible and engaging manner.

Being the parent of a smart child is great - until your son or daughter starts asking whether global warming is real, if you are going to die, and what will happen if they don't get into college. Kids who are advanced intellectually often let their imaginations run wild and experience fears beyond their years. So what can you do to help? In Why Smart Kids Worry, Allison Edwards guides you through the mental and emotional process of where your child's fears come from and why they are so hard to move past. Edwards focuses on how to parent a child who is both smart and anxious.

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. 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.

What are teens actually doing on their smartphones? Contrary to many adults’ assumptions, they are not simply “addicted” to their screens, oblivious to the afterlife of what they post, or missing out on personal connection. They are just trying to navigate a networked world. In Behind Their Screens, Emily Weinstein and Carrie James, Harvard researchers who are experts on teens and technology, explore the complexities that teens face in their digital lives, and suggest that many adult efforts to help—“Get off your phone!” “Just don’t sext!”—fall short.

Ten years after the school massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, school shootings are a new and alarming epidemic. While sociologists have attributed the trigger of violence to peer pressure, such as bullying and social isolation, prominent psychologist Peter Langman, argues here that psychological causes are responsible. Drawing on 20 years of clinical experience, Langman offers surprising reasons for why some teens become violent. Langman divides shooters into three categories, and he discusses the role of personality, trauma, and psychosis among school shooters.

If your child is between the ages of nine and twelve, you are in the throes of the 'between' years. Not quite a child and not yet a teenager, tweens embody a very specific stage of development that once understood will revolutionise the way you parent, educate and support those in your care. In Tweens, award-winning parenting educator Michelle Mitchell explains that this is the most rapid period of development since toddlerhood. Right now, before the full pressures of high school hit, you have a window of opportunity that can change the trajectory of adolescence and beyond.

Between the ages of 12 and 24, the brain changes in important and often maddening ways. It’s no wonder that many parents approach their child’s adolescence with fear and trepidation. According to renowned neuropsychiatrist Daniel Siegel, however, if parents and teens can work together to form a deeper understanding of the brain science behind all the tumult, they will be able to turn conflict into connection and form a deeper understanding of one another. In Brainstorm, Siegel illuminates how brain development affects teenagers’ behaviour and relationships.

On the surface, capable teenage boys may look lazy. But dig a little deeper, writes child psychologist Adam Price in He's Not Lazy, and you'll often find conflicted boys who want to do well in middle and high school but are afraid to fail and so do not try. This audiobook can help you become an ally with your son as he discovers greater self-confidence and accepts responsibility for his future.

Drawing on her research, knowledge, and clinical experience, internationally respected neurologist--and mother of two boys--Frances E. Jensen, MD, offers a revolutionary look at the adolescent brain, providing remarkable insights that translate into practical advice both for parents and teenagers.

The author of 21 Days to a Happier Family, Dr Justin Coulson, on raising kids who'll bounce back from adversity and challenging times. Have you ever watched your child give up too quickly and easily, moaning 'I can't'. Perhaps your child resists going to school because they don't like their teacher or their friend rejected them. Maybe they failed in a sporting contest or an exam. One of the most frequent questions Kidspot parenting expert Dr Coulson is asked is 'How can I help my child become resilient?'

In Free to Learn, developmental psychologist Peter Gray argues that our children, if free to pursue their own interests through play, will not only learn all they need to know but will do so with energy and passion. Children come into this world burning to learn, equipped with the curiosity, playfulness, and sociability to direct their own education. Yet we have squelched such instincts in a school model originally developed to indoctrinate, not to promote intellectual growth.

Borderline Personality Disorder is a startlingly common condition, affecting as many as 3% of people under the age of 18. Characterized by struggles with emotional regulation, self-image, self-worth, mood swings, and impulse control, and often appearing alongside other conditions like anxiety, depression, and substance use, BPD is a condition any parent with an adolescent should be aware of. The good news is that BPD is treatable, and families can find relief with an accurate diagnosis and proper treatment.

Counselors and psychotherapists are faced with ever-increasing complexity in their work with adolescents. In this book, Bronagh Starrs offers an understanding of developmental and therapeutic process from a relational-phenomenological Gestalt perspective. Starrs shows how the adolescent's presenting symptom issues are statements of compromised life space integrity and demonstrates therapeutic sensibility to the adolescent's first-person experience. Throughout the book, the clinician is offered extensive relational and creative strategies to support integrity repair for the adolescent.

In teenagers, powerful emotions are the rule, not the exception. Unfortunately, many of today's parents now regard their teens' negative feelings as disruptive, dangerous, or diagnosable, thanks to the rise of the wellness industry and the widespread use of psychotropic drugs. To make matters worse, the global pandemic, academic pressure, social media stress, and a bleak environmental future have left today's teenagers feeling overwhelmed. This book gives parents the science-based information they need to guide their teens through a challenging developmental phase during challenging times.

If you're the parent of a "smart but scattered" teen, trying to help him or her grow into a self-sufficient, responsible adult may feel like a never-ending battle. Now you have an alternative to micromanaging, cajoling, or ineffective punishments. This positive guide provides a science-based program for promoting teens' independence by building their executive skills - the fundamental brain-based abilities needed to get organized, stay focused, and control impulses and emotions.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg believes that too many Australian boys have got it too easy - and the result is a generation of ‘boofheads’: boys with huge egos who think they are too good to stack the dishwasher or turn up to school. They expect the world and give little in return. But things are about to change. From the author of the groundbreaking Australian best seller The Princess Bitchface Syndrome and researcher Elly Robinson comes this essential companion book for boys.

Why are certain people so incredibly great at what they do? Most of us think we know the answer - but we’re almost always wrong. That’s important, because if we’re wrong on this crucial question, then we have zero chance of getting significantly better at anything we care about. Happily, the real source of great performance is no longer a mystery. Bringing together extensive scientific research, best-selling author Geoff Colvin shows where we go wrong and what actually makes world-class performers so remarkable.

In recent decades, the lives of people in their late teens and twenties have changed so dramatically that a new stage of life has developed. In his provocative work, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett has identified the period of emerging adulthood as distinct from both the adolescence that precedes it and the young adulthood that comes in its wake. Arnett's new paradigm has received enormous worldwide scholarly attention due to his book that launched the field, Emerging Adulthood.