Description

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Raising a teen is tough--especially when your teen has trouble regulating their emotions and lashes out. This groundbreaking book will give you the tools you need to stop unwittingly reinforcing your teen's bad behavior, reduce conflicts, and get your teen on track with the things that really matter.

If you have a teen who experiences extreme emotions, either as a result of a mental health diagnosis such as borderline personality disorder (BPD), or simply because you have a highly emotional teen, you probably need help right now. Parenting a teen comes with its own challenges, but when your teen acts out you may feel like you are at your wits end. To make matters worse, you may have difficulty managing your own emotions and responses.

Written by an expert in teen mental health, Parenting a Troubled Teen is based in proven-effective acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). In the book, you'll find the tools you need to parent your troubled teen, pay attention to your own reactions, and put an end to the cycle of conflict that has taken over your home. In this book, you'll learn to observe the thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations that drive your own parenting behaviors, and how these behaviors can impact your teen.

This is not a book about how to be a perfect parent. Everyone makes mistakes and reacts negatively to a situation from time to time. But if you're committed to improving your relationship with your teen, helping them take charge of their emotions, and ending family conflict, this practical guide will show you how.

About the Author

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Patricia E. Zurita Ona, PsyD, is director of the East Bay Behavior Therapy Center and adjunct professor at the Wright Institute. Her clinical work started first as school psychologist, and then as a clinical psychologist. She has significant experience working with children, adolescents, and adults with mood, anxiety, and body-image concerns; particular areas of expertise are obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Zurita Ona also provides specialized services for individuals struggling with emotional dysregulation problems, such as borderline personality disorder (BPD), with or without self-harm and suicidal behaviors. She is coauthor of Mind and Emotions, a universal protocol for emotional disorders that has received a "Self-Help Seal of Merit" from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). Foreword writer Kirk D. Strosahl, PhD, is cofounder of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a cognitive behavioral approach that has gained widespread adoption in the mental health and substance-abuse communities. He is coauthor of Brief Interventions for Radical Change and In This Moment. Strosahl provides training and consultation services for Mountainview Consulting Group, Inc. He is a pioneer in the movement to bring behavioral health services into primary care. He resides in Portland, OR. Afterword writer Matthew McKay, PhD, is a professor at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. He has authored and coauthored numerous books, including The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, Self-Esteem, Thoughts and Feelings, When Anger Hurts, and ACT on Life Not on Anger. McKay received his PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, and specializes in the cognitive behavioral treatment of anxiety and depression. He lives and works in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.