Teens have special mental and emotional issues that need to be addressed by pastors and their colleagues in ministry. For this reason, clergy and caregivers need to know about the most common mental disorders that occur in adolescents, including how to assess and diagnose them, what types of treatment can be initiated in the faith community, when referral is required, and to whom to make a referral. This book identifies twenty-two of the most common mental health conditions that occur among adolescents, provides illustrative cases, lists national resources available to help, and suggests when and from whom to seek additional professional help. There is an emphasis on self-help resources available on the Internet, a major source of information for teens.

A Road Map for Parenting in the Troubled Years It is never too late for parents to reach their teenager or young adult. Licensed counselor Connie Rae draws from professional and personal experience to provide insight, encouragement, and advice. Offering wise counsel and a reassuring tone, she helps parents better understand their child's temperament, their own parenting style, and the developmental process their child is going through. She also discusses the world in which their teenager is growing up, which is very different than many parents realize. Each chapter ends with a list of practical steps and a prayer, giving parents wise advice but also offering hope through the process.

This book illuminates the causes of severe adolescent behavioral problems and presents a research-based fifteen-step model for helping families bring about real, lasting change. Incorporating structural and strategic principles, the author's cohesive approach focuses on setting clear rules and consequences; changing the mood and direction of confrontations; neutralizing such problem behaviors as disrespect, truancy, running away, violence, and threats of suicide; and restoring positive, nurturing relationships among family members. Special treatment issues covered include working with single-parent families, outside systems (peers, school, probation officers), divorce and stepfamily problems, and substance misuse. Clearly written, practical, and accessible, the book uses actual case examples to demonstrate each step of the approach.

Parenting today’s teens is not for cowards. Your teenager is facing unprecedented and confusing pressures, temptations, and challenges in today’s culture. Mark Gregston has helped teens and their parents through every struggle imaginable, and now he shares his biblical, practical insights with you in bite-size pieces. Punctuated with Scriptures, prayers, and penetrating questions, these one-page devotions will give you the wisdom and assurance you need to guide your teen through these years and reach the other side with relationships intact.

Power struggles between parents and teens are nothing new, but chronic control battles are destructive to teen development as well as the entire family. According to psychotherapist Neil Brown, these battles occur as the result of self-perpetuating negative relationship patterns. This book will help you understand and end the painful tug-of-war with your teen and foster a peaceful and loving home environment.

Offering a fresh perspective on treatment, this book presents an overarching framework and numerous specific strategies for working with violent youth and their families. The authors draw on extensive experience to identify four critical factors that push some adolescents to commit harmful, even deadly acts: devaluation, erosion of community, dehumanized loss, and rage. Effective ways to address each of these factors in clinical and school settings are discussed and illustrated with evocative case material. The book also provides essential guidance on connecting with aggressive teeens--many whom have endured traumas of their owen--managing difficult situations that are likely to arise in therapy.

This best-selling collection is filled with creative assessment and treatment interventions to help clients identify feelings, learn coping strategies, enhance social skills, and elevate self-esteem. A wealth of innovative tools for practitioners working with children in individual, group, and family counselling. Aimed at 4 to 16 year olds.

Youth culture changes rapidly, so those in the position to counsel teens often find themselves ill-informed and ill-prepared to deal with the issues that teens routinely encounter today. The Quick-Reference Guide to Counseling Teenagers provides the answers. It is an A-Z guide for assisting people-helpers--pastors, professional counselors, youth workers, and everyday believers--to easily access a full array of information to aid them in (formal and informal) counseling situations. Each of the 40 topics covered follows a helpful eight-part outline and identifies: (1) typical symptoms and patterns, (2) definitions and key thoughts, (3) questions to ask, (4) directions for the conversation, (5) action steps, (6) biblical insights, (7) prayer starters, and (8) recommended resources.

A collection of 8 inspirational stories for teens, about teens, their families, their relationships, their challenges and their triumphs. Most of the characters in this book are real, except for their names and a few other details. Some live in the future, some have problems reading, some just moved to a new school and some struggle with domestic violence. They are normal kids with real challenges and inspiring solutions. Whether they are different, from the future, from a different country or have special circumstances, the characters of Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers, teenagers and adults, deal with the dilemma of giving up their significance to gain love. They struggle with body image, social acceptance, family relationships, school, diversity and inclusion. Invariably, it's their attitude that determines their fate. "Bojé's Magic Powder" is the story of Sam, who feels different and isolated because of her eating habits, while her classmates think she has an advantage. "Beauty Queen" is the story of Michelle, a beautiful girl with a secret, who must work out the priorities in her life and find her inner beauty. "Be Special, Be Yourself" is the story of Adam, who migrates to another country and tries to fit in, without giving up his values. "Curly Line with Flowers" is the story of Jessie, a dyslexic girl, who writes a diary of her brave struggle for acceptance. "The Building of Life" describes one class' attempt to create a perfect setup for a group of people living in a building, while coming to grips with some of the realities of their own life. "The Guidance Counselor" is the story of Tommie, who is physically abused and builds his inner strength to set himself free. "Love Me, Love Me Not" is a "chain story" about the desire that teenagers and adults have to be loved and things they will do to fulfill that desire. "Biography" is the story of Daniel, who finds out, with the help of a classmate, just how much he is loved by the people around him. The author says, "This book is a tribute to my heroes, teens and parents, teachers and friends, people I had met throughout my life, had been great inspiration to me and needed to be known. It is about teens who are juggling the need to be unique with the need to be loved and accepted by others and their wonderful ways to be true to themselves."

Therapist and family and youth specialist Michael Ungar takes readers inside of a weekly support group for families with difficult children. Using the struggles of the families and his own experiences with a troubled upbringing, Ungar lays out nine strategies for parents to help difficult children grow and flourish.