The Essential Guide to the New Adolescence: How to Raise an Emotionally Healthy Teenager - Softcover

Siegler, Ava L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452273323 ISBN 13: 9780452273320

Publisher: Plume, 1998

Synopsis

Adolescence has always been a time of struggle for both children and parents, but in her twenty years of work as a psychologist, Ava L. Siegler has recognized that this stage of development is now beginning sooner and lasting longer for almost every child. Sometimes adolescence begins as early as nine, and it can endure into the twenties. Compounded by the fact that we live in an increasingly complex society, adolescence now incorporates a host of new issues with which parents must be prepared to help their children cope. Siegler teaches parents that while there is no such thing as a "typical teen," there are five categories into which adolescents do fit, each with different problems and solutions. She also addresses the five basic fears that teens face, and shows parents how to use what she calls the "Four C's" (compassion, communication, comprehension, competence) in talking to their kids. With a detailed case study for each type of adolescent, as well as dialogues parents can use to talk to their teens, The Essential Guide To The New Adolescence provides all the information parents need to help their kids navigate their way through adolescence.

About this title

Review

Adolescence has always been a scary, challenging time for both parents and children, but these days it feels as though the stakes have been raised. In The Essential Guide to the New Adolescence, Ava L. Siegler, director of the Institute for Child, Adolescent, and Family Studies in New York City, helps parents understand their adolescent's struggles and provides excellent approaches and solutions to these difficulties.

Siegler describes five distinct "profiles" that shape and define most teen behavior: anxiety, rebellion, depression, withdrawal, and overconnection. She also describes how five basic fears of adolescence are transformed during that time. To illustrate her points, Siegler shares real-life studies that mirror those profiles and fears. Some of the profiled adolescents and their families are going through "normal" struggles; some are stuck in real problems. Siegler explains the dynamics that contribute to each family's particular crisis and provides specific communication tools to help parents who have adolescent children in similar situations or states of mind. Siegler's approach is right on the mark: she is wise, compassionate, and helpful. The stories are moving and, for parents of teenagers, all too familiar.

About the Author

Ava L. Siegler, Ph.D. is Director of the Institute for Child, Adolescent, and Family Studies in New York City. She writes a regular monthly column on parenting for Child magazine, and is the author of What Should I Tell the Kids?

Edition details

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0452273323
• ISBN 13: 9780452273320
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320