The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable and Compassionate Adolescents

Description

In teenagers, powerful emotions are the rule, not the exception. Unfortunately, many oftoday's parents now regard their teens' negative feelings as disruptive, dangerous ordiagnosable, thanks to the rise of the wellness industry and the widespread availability ofpsychotropic drugs. To make matters worse, the global pandemic, mounting academicpressures, social media stress and a threatening environmental future have left today'steenagers feeling overwhelmed. In THE EMOTIONAL LIVES OF TEENAGERS, bestselling author and clinical psychologist Dr LisaDamour provides practical advice for parents and care-givers, showing them that a teenager'smental health isn't just about feeling good. She explains that mental health means having theappropriate feelings at the appropriate time, and shows how parents can help their teensregulate those feelings to avoid emotional floods. She also provides strategies to keep teensfrom being overwhelmed by their emotions, so that they aren't at the mercy of their moods.Finally, she explains how to deal with teens' arguments, risk-taking, romance, friendships,social media and much more, as well as offering strategies for parents that will encourage their teens to open up to them. With concrete, relatable explanations embedded in vibrant, real-life anecdotes, this book givesparents the science-based information they need to guide their teens through a challengingdevelopmental phase during challenging times.

After graduating with honours from Yale University, Lisa Damour received her doctorate inClinical Psychology at the University of Michigan. Based in the US, she has worked for the YaleChild Study Centre and directs the Centre for Research on Girls at Laurel School, maintains aprivate psychotherapy practice, consults and speaks nationally, is a faculty associate of theSchubert Centre for Child Studies and is a clinical instructor at Case Western ReserveUniversity. Lisa is the author of two previous successful parenting books: 2016's Untangled and 2019's Under Pressure.

This book offers a crucial reframing that helps us understand teens, their emotions, and their behavior. I couldn't love it more. Damour gifts parents the knowledge, words, and practical advice needed to reach our teens so that we can help them become happy, healthy, and fully themselves. -- Tina Payne Bryson, New York Times Bestselling co-author of THE WHOLE-BRAIN CHILD, NO-DRAMA DISCIPLINE and THE POWER OF SHOWING UP This book is required reading for anyone who worries that their kids aren't happy, aren't happy enough, or might be happy now but could become unhappy in the future. Lisa Damour explains why intense feelings-including negative ones-are a key part of teenage development, and how we can help young people (and ourselves) understand, express, manage, and most importantly, embrace the full spectrum of human emotion. The Emotional Lives of Teenagers is written as clearly, usefully, and warmly as anything I've read about the psychology of adolescence. As a psychologist and a mother of two teenagers, I give it my highest recommendation! -- Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of GRIT and co-founder of Character Lab In her latest book, and her first for parents of all genders, Dr. Damour uses her signature wisdom and relatability to first dispel harmful but pervasive myths about teen mental health, then to reframe our understanding of the mysterious inner workings of teenage emotionality. If, like most parents, you find yourself alienated or confused by your teen's unruly, unknowable, or unpredictable feelings, add this book to the top of your reading pile immediately. It will put you at ease and your child will thank you for becoming the competent and confident resource on whom they want, and need, to depend. -- Michelle Icard, author of FOURTEEN TALKS BY AGE FOURTEEN In The Emotional Lives of Teenagers Lisa Damour applies her powerful intellect, decades of clinical experience, and deep empathy to one of the most essential questions of our time: How can adults best support adolescent mental health? Damour lays out a new, essential framework for understanding teens' emotional lives and hands parents, teachers, coaches, and mentors the playbook they need to help teenagers feel heard, healthy, and whole. -- Jewel, singer/songwriter and mental health advocate I can't recommend The Emotional Lives of Teenagers enough. Damour delivers on her promise to give parents practical and actionable research-backed advice that will ensure their children develop the emotion skills they need to thrive." -- Marc Brackett, PhD, director, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, professor, Yale Child Study Center, and author of the bestselling book, Permission To Feel. Lisa Damour is a wonderful, rigorous thinker who draws beautifully from both research and clinical practice to help adults understand teenagers. Damour's striking clarity and insight make her the perfect guide for those looking to make sense of teens' emotional lives. -- Richard Weissbourd, author of THE PARENTS WE MEAN TO BE