Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Many therapists express a dislike to working with children, specifically adolescents and teenagers, in a formal therapy setting. Such comments as "You couldn't pay me enough to work with kids" or "I can barely deal with my own kids, much less someone else's!" serve as an indication of this aversion. The purpose of this project is to provide a handbook for therapists who wish to work with adolescents and teenagers. To this end, a review was done on relevant literature focusing on "resilient adolescents" and "natural mentors" in an effort to ascertain concrete methods through which a therapist may build a strong, positive therapeutic relationship with a teenage or adolescent client. Much of the information contained herein is sourced from studies focusing on the effect of non-parent adult mentors ("natural mentors") have in positively changing the life of a resilient adolescent. Personal author experience with children, combined with the literature, provided the foundation to establish a set of suggestive guidelines that a therapist could turn to when working with adolescents and teenagers. The aim of these suggestions is focused primarily on therapists who have not worked with or have specifically avoided this demographic. This handbook can also be used by therapists who are experienced in working with adolescents and are interested in expending their skills.
Author: Ralph H. Markham
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2210398438