Adolescents face unique pressures and worries. Will they pass high school? Should they go to college? Will they find love? And what ways do they want to act in the world? The uncertainty surrounding the future can be overwhelming. Sadly, and all too often, if things don’t go smoothly, adolescents will begin labeling themselves as losers, unpopular, unattractive, weird, or dumb. And, let’s not forget the ubiquitous ‘not good enough’ story that often begins during these formative years. These labels are often carried forward throughout life. So what can you do, now, to help lighten this lifelong burden? The Thriving Adolescent offers teachers, counselors, and mental health professionals powerful techniques for working with adolescents. Based in proven- effective acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), the skills and tips outlined in this book will help adolescents and teens manage difficult emotions, connect with their values, achieve mindfulness and vitality, and develop positive relationships with friends and family. The evidence-based practices in this book focus on developing a strong sense of self, and will give adolescents the confidence they need to make that difficult transition into adulthood. Whether it’s school, family, or friend related, adolescents experience a profound level of stress, and often they lack the psychological tools to deal with stress in productive ways. The skills we impart to them now will help set the stage for a happy, healthy adulthood. If you work with adolescents or teens, this is a must-have addition to your professional library.

Details the safety, mental health, and wellness issues in schools today and focuses on the interactions and collaborations needed among students, teachers, families, community members, and other professionals to foster the safety, learning, and well-being of all students. Safe schools and student well-being take a "village" of adults and students with varied interests, perspectives, and abilities collaborating to create caring, supportive, and academically productive schools. Schools are unofficial mental health care providers for children and youth who are placed at risk by social and economic circumstances and whose un- and under addressed needs can compromise teaching and learning. This handbook provides up-to-date information on how to promote safety, wellness, and mental health in a manner that can help draw the needed "village" together. It aligns research and practice to support effective collaboration—it provides information and tools for educators, administrators, policy makers, mental health and community organizations, families, parents, and students to join forces to promote and support school safety, student well-being, and student mental health. Chapters address school context, the dynamic nature of school communities and child development, and the importance of diversity and equity. Chapters provide in-depth understanding of why and how to improve safety, well-being, and mental health in a culturally responsive manner. They provide strategies and tools for planning, monitoring, and implementing change, methods for collaborating, and policy and practice guidance. They provide examples of successful and promising cross-system and cross-stakeholder collaborations. This handbook will interest students, scholars, faculty, and researchers in education, counseling, and psychology; administrators in human services and youth development; policy makers; and student, family, and community representatives.

Written by an experienced educational and developmental psychologist, ACT for Treating Children offers clinicians clear, practical, brief, and developmentally appropriate strategies grounded in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help children ages 5 to 12 learn effective coping skills, manage emotions, and bounce back from life's difficulties. If you treat children struggling with mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety, you know that approaches designed for adults do not work with younger clients. ACT for Treating Children presents skills grounded in evidence-based ACT to help children regulate emotions and cope with the inevitable ups and downs of life, and is suitable for clinicians with no prior knowledge of or training in ACT, as well as seasoned ACT clinicians. This practical clinician’s guide outlines a simplified version of the ACT Hexaflex—a key component of this treatment model—called the Kidflex, to help young clients build resilience and psychological flexibility. You’ll also find detailed case studies, transcripts, activities, experiential exercises, worksheets, and session plans to help you develop the skillset you need to help children overcome disorders such as stress, anxiety and depression. Finally, you’ll find strategies for involving parents in treatment when appropriate, and enlisting them as ‘ACT coaches’ in the child’s therapy. It can be difficult to know where to start when using ACT for individual therapy with children. That’s why the skills in this go-to guide are practical and easy-to-implement, can be done with children in both face-to-face therapy and online sessions, and are simple enough for children to put into practice in any setting—whether it’s at home, in school, or out in the world.

In The Oxford Handbook of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Michael P. Twohig, Michael E. Levin, and Julie M. Petersen bring together contributions from the world's leading scholars to create a comprehensive volume on established areas of ACT. The Handbook presents the first scholarly review of the treatment as it has developed over the past two to three decades. Featuring 33 chapters on key aspects of the treatment, the contributors offer analysis on ACT's conceptual and theoretical underpinnings, applications to specific populations and problems, methods of implementation, and other special topics. They will further cover theory, empirical support, and scholarly descriptions of treatment application.

In this much-needed guide, a clinical psychologist and a social worker provide a flexible, ten-week protocol based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help adolescents overcome mental health hurdles and thrive. If you’re a clinician working with adolescents, you understand the challenges this population faces. But sometimes it can be difficult to establish connection in therapy. To help, ACT for Adolescents offers the first effective professional protocol for facilitating ACT with adolescents in individual therapy, along with modifications for a group setting. In this book, you’ll find invaluable strategies for connecting meaningfully with your client in session, while at the same time arriving quickly and safely to the clinical issues your client is facing. You’ll also find an overview of the core processes of ACT so you can introduce mindfulness into each session and help your client choose values-based action. Using the protocol outlined in this book, you’ll be able to help your client overcome a number of mental health challenges from depression and anxiety to eating disorders and trauma. If you work with adolescent clients, the powerful and effective step-by-step exercises in this book are tailored especially for you. This is a must-have addition to your professional library. This book includes audio downloads.

A fun and practical guide to help you deal with feelings of anxiety, fear, worry, and self-doubt. Do you ever feel stressed, worried, or anxious about the future? You aren’t alone. From pandemics and natural disasters to school violence and social media overload, today’s teens face an increasingly overwhelming and uncertain world. Add in the daily stress of school and grades, friends and relationships, extracurricular activities, jobs, and planning for college, and there’s plenty to feel anxious about. The good news is that you can manage your fears, live with confidence, and make a positive impact. This book will show you how. In this friendly guide just for teens, you’ll gain a greater understanding of how uncertainty can trigger feelings of anxiety, fear, worry, and self-doubt. Grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), the book offers ten skills-based tips to help you take “smart risks,” stop avoiding the things that make you feel uneasy, and bounce back from challenges and setbacks. Most importantly, you’ll learn to become more comfortable with uncertainty, and take valued actions toward creating positive change in your life—and the world. Not knowing what to do, what’s going to happen, and what other people are thinking and feeling can be scary. And as a teen, you’re going through a whole bunch of changes and transitions. Uncertainty is a part of life, but with this book as your guide, you’ll learn to stay cool, calm, and focused on your bright future! *The foreword by Sheri L. Turrell, PhD, is available at the publisher's website: https://www.newharbinger.com/turrell-foreword*

Conquer panic attacks with therapy-based strategies for teens Dealing with anxiety and panic attacks on top of school, friends, and thoughts of the future can make it hard to be a teenager. The Panic Attacks Workbook for Teens helps you better handle panic attacks with exercises and explanations that make it easier for you to face your fears and get back to the things you love. Interactive activities and prompts encourage you to experiment with different ways of responding to tough experiences. You'll explore how panic affects your brain and body, then practice mental and physical strategies—like controlling your breathing and identifying your panic triggers—that help you tackle panic head-on. The basics of panic attacks—Learn about what panic attacks are and why they happen, as well as how the tools in this workbook can help you understand, predict, and manage them. Answers to common questions—Explore questions from other teens about common scenarios where panic might arise, and get detailed responses that show you how to handle them. Real therapy techniques—Discover strategies taken from evidence-based recovery methods, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, mindfulness, and positive psychology. Get the practical tools you need to recognize and overcome panic attacks so you can live your life to the fullest.

This book sets out therapeutic activities to help children aged 4-12 years and their families to better understand and manage anxiety. It explains how to work with anxious children, providing a framework for assessment and therapy that draws on CBT, ACT and narrative therapy approaches. Lots of practical tips for therapists are included and important developmental considerations are discussed, including adapting therapy for children with developmental difficulties, and working with families and schools. Over 50 playful therapeutic activities are included, which have been developed through the authors' extensive work with children, giving children an arsenal of coping strategies. They focus on key areas such as understanding anxiety, managing anxious thoughts, and building resilience and use readily available, inexpensive materials and downloadable templates which are provided in the book. This is the perfect tool for therapists looking for playful and purposeful ways to work with children with anxiety.

Values in Therapy is a powerful and practical guide for any therapist—chock-full of insight and tools to conceptualize, integrate, and effectively apply values work in-session. With an emphasis on cultivating meaning and vitality in client lives, the values component of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is what draws many clinicians to the treatment model. Yet, until now, there have been no practical guides available on values-based practice written from an ACT perspective. And while values work may appear deceptively simple, it’s often difficult to effectively carry out in practice. That’s where this comprehensive guide comes in. Values in Therapy emphasizes the facilitation of specific qualities inherent in effective values conversations, such as vitality, choice, present-focused awareness, and willing vulnerability. This book will help you move away from basic techniques and exercises and toward the nuance and skills you need to do effective values work. You’ll also learn how to use these tools, with detailed scripts for in-session exercises, handouts for clients, homework ideas, assessment and tracking tools, case examples, practical vignettes, and more. Whether you’re an ACT clinician, or simply looking to incorporate values-based work into your treatment, this essential guide provides everything you need to help clients connect with what really matters to them, so they can live full and meaningful lives.

Communication is an essential life skill that every teen must learn. Based on the New Harbinger classic, Messages, this book will teach you the necessary skills—such as assertiveness, active listening, and compassion—to become an effective communicator for life. In an age of social media, texting, and ever-evolving technology, it’s easy to forget how to engage in real, face-to-face communication, a critical skill for your future success! As you become more connected to your smartphone and the internet, your ability to connect in person may diminish. But technology doesn’t replace the need for effective communication skills. In fact, successful personal and professional relationships are dependent upon connecting with people face-to-face. Communication Skills for Teens provides the guidance you need to become a better communicator and succeed in all areas of life. You’ll also learn tons of essential life skills, including active listening, assertiveness, clarifying language, the art of an apology, compassion, interviewing skills, family communication, and more. Each chapter focuses on one key aspect of communication, offers a real teen’s perspective, and includes practical exercises to help you apply what you’ve learned in the real world—away from your computer and smartphone screens. By following the practical, skills-based tips in each chapter of this book, you'll learn powerful communication techniques to last a lifetime.