Teens in Therapy: Making It Their Own: Engaging Adolescents in Successful Therapy for Responsible Lives / Edition 1

by Richard Bromfield

Overview

Every therapist knows that adolescents are difficult and challenging clients.

Push a teen too hard for change and you risk upsetting the fragile balance of trust, distracting from the work at hand, and possibly leading therapy in the wrong direction. Take too light an approach, however, and an adolescent becomes disengaged and bored, unwilling to work at therapy or likely to terminate therapy prematurely.

Therapists need to strike a balance between being respectful and directive. But how do you show understanding for the immediate problems of teens while helping them to become more confident, connected, and fulfilled individuals in the longer term? Bromfield answers this question by offering therapists key insights and helping them to understand that, in the therapeutic context, adolescents as well as their therapists often feel lost and sometimes are unsure as to why they meet and what therapy can achieve. Teens in Therapy is the perfect guidebook to this difficult clinical terrain.

Drawing on years of clinical experience, Bromfield shows therapists that in order to affect change in their clients, adolescents have to want to change, realize what their problems are and how they contribute to them, and, most important, take ownership of their therapy and their lives. Organized into 18 chapters that explore specific treatment techniques—valuing the adolescent, promoting honesty, facilitating self-revelation, spotlighting conflict, speaking the patient’s language, avoiding the doldrums, working with parents, and more—readers will find an enlightening examination of the problems inherent in adolescent therapy, and come away with effective strategies to foresee, address, and then overcome them.Filled with rich case material, Teens in Therapy focuses on the stories and perspectives of adolescents themselves, arming therapists with a clearer sense of purpose and strategy, and giving them the tools necessary to effectively engage their teenage clients in therapy and help them to assume greater responsibility for their treatments and futures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393704648
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/17/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	849,830
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Richard Bromfield, Ph.D., is a psychologist at Harvard Medical School and author of Handle with Care: Understanding Children and Teachers and Playing for Real. He lives in Brookline with his wife and teenage children.

What People are Saying About This

Sally Theran

"[Bromfield's] eloquent emphasis on the importance of empathy, helping teenagers feel understood, and balancing the need to challenge as well as push is well-stated. His clear writing is instructive and engaging, and his no-nonsense style is refreshing. This book should be required reading for anyone working with teenagers."--(Sally Theran, PhD, Wellesley College)

Harry G. Segal

"A pleasure to read... the result is a suspenseful, engaging, and truly wise text that deserves to become a standard in the field."--(Harry G. Segal, PhD, Cornell University)

Phebe Cramer

"Just as this book is written in direct, jargon-free language in a way that communicates with the reader, these same qualities are suggested by the author as those that will facilitate the therapist's work... A highly readable book that captures the essence of working with adolescents in treatment."--(Phebe Cramer, PhD, Williams College)

Editorial Reviews

"A very practical and enjoyable book to read... a must for therapists who work with adolescents."

Dutch Journal of Psychiatry

"A pleasure to read... the result is a suspenseful, engaging, and truly wise text that deserves to become a standard in the field."

Harry G. Segal

"Lively, practical, note-perfect guidance to therapists of adolescents."

New England Psychologist

"Filled with rich case material, Teens in Therapy focuses on the stories and perspectives of adolescents themselves, arming therapists with a dearer sense of purpose and strategy."

Adolescence

"Clearly written, down to Earth and at times humorous … Bursting with real life examples of characters who howl, swear, make up fantastic stories and fall asleep through their sessions—but whom Bromfield portrays with respect and affection."

Counseling Resource

"Cannot imagine a more practical guide on how to do therapy with adolescents."

Psychotherapy Review

A very practical and enjoyable book to read... a must for therapists who work with adolescents.-- "Dutch Journal of Psychiatry"

Cannot imagine a more practical guide on how to do therapy with adolescents.-- "Psychotherapy Review"

Clearly written, down to Earth and at times humorous ... Bursting with real life examples of characters who howl, swear, make up fantastic stories and fall asleep through their sessions--but whom Bromfield portrays with respect and affection.-- "Counseling Resource"

Filled with rich case material, Teens in Therapy focuses on the stories and perspectives of adolescents themselves, arming therapists with a dearer sense of purpose and strategy.-- "Adolescence"

Lively, practical, note-perfect guidance to therapists of adolescents.-- "New England Psychologist"

A pleasure to read... the result is a suspenseful, engaging, and truly wise text that deserves to become a standard in the field.--Harry G. Segal, PhD, Cornell University

From the Publisher

Anyone who is interested in adolescent psychology or who has ever struggled with adolescents or adolescent clients in therapy will benefit from reading this book.

Choice