You’ve seen it on the news too many times to count. School shootings, adolescent addictions, bullying, eating disorders, depression and suicide, cutting, pregnancy. There is no lack of bad news to be told about teenagers today. Maybe you believe that will never happen to “my child.” And maybe it won’t. But crises aren’t always the stories that make the evening news. The spectrum of crises an adolescent may face can range from something as (seemingly harmless) as getting caught cheating on a test to dealing with the breakdown of the family, to acting out and getting in trouble with the law. And the reality is that someone they know will likely experience some kind of crisis—and that can affect your teen significantly. Either way, when a crisis affects your teen, wouldn’t you want to be prepared?Rich Van Pelt and Jim Hancock, both of whom have raised teenagers into adulthood and have spent decades in youth ministry and crisis management, bring together their expertise and insight to help you identify and understand what a crisis is and how you can help your teen live and grow through it. Inside, you’ll find practical responses for issues like: • Suicidal thoughts or behavior• Accidents• Cheating• Death (of a friend or loved one)• Divorce• Eating disorders• Hazing• Pregnancy• Sexual abuse• Sexual identity confusion• Substance abuse or addiction• And more...In addition to learning appropriate responses to crises, you’ll learn how to prevent some of these issues, and how to get professionals involved when necessary.Whatever it is your teen is dealing with, your influence in their life is still the most important one. So be prepared to walk them through their crisis with wisdom, compassion, and the tools to help them heal.

A Parent's Guide for Suicidal and Depressed Teens

When youth work becomes crisis managers.Anyone who stays in youth ministry for a while will encounter significant crises. Family break-ups, substance abuse, sexual assault, eating disorders, cutting, suicide, gun violence.But without proper and immediate care, crises like these can cause years of emotional pain and spiritual scarring in students.Rich Van Pelt and Jim Hancock want to help you prevent that from happening.Through their experience and expertise, you1ll learn how to:-Respond quickly and effectively to crisis -Balance legal, ethical, and spiritual outcomes -Forge preventive partnerships with parents, schools, and students -Bring healing when damage is doneWhen crises happen‹and they will, ready or not‹there are practical steps you can take. Van Pelt and Hancock provide field-tested counsel and specific, biblical advice for each stage of crisis. Keep this book on hand as your go-to resource when you need it most.Because when it comes to crisis, it1s not a matter of if, but when.

A Road Map for Parenting in the Troubled Years It is never too late for parents to reach their teenager or young adult. Licensed counselor Connie Rae draws from professional and personal experience to provide insight, encouragement, and advice. Offering wise counsel and a reassuring tone, she helps parents better understand their child's temperament, their own parenting style, and the developmental process their child is going through. She also discusses the world in which their teenager is growing up, which is very different than many parents realize. Each chapter ends with a list of practical steps and a prayer, giving parents wise advice but also offering hope through the process.

Helping Kids in Crisis: Managing Psychiatric Emergencies in Children and Adolescents is a practical, easy-to-use guide for clinicians working with child and adolescent psychiatric emergencies across a range of settings -- from emergency rooms to schools to community pediatric or mental health clinics. More and more children struggle with psychiatric symptoms, while access to treatment remains limited, so pediatricians, social workers, school psychologists, guidance counselors, and school nurses often find themselves treating kids in crisis without available child psychiatric consultation. These crises are high-risk, high-liability situations that are often dangerous and intimidating. This book provides clinical case examples with concrete tools for assessment, de-escalation, and diagnosis, to help clinicians quickly stabilize the crisis and determine when a trip to the emergency room is necessary. Pragmatic and accessible, Helping Kids in Crisis: Managing Psychiatric Emergencies in Children and Adolescents provides the up-to-date tools and clinical guidance that practitioners in hospital and community-based settings need to intervene effectively, relieve suffering, and keep their young patients safe.

From two of the top child and adolescent psychiatrists at The Hospital for Sick Children comes an accessible guide to common mental health struggles, such as anxiety and depression, for any parent wondering how to help their child. Is my child okay? Is she eating and sleeping enough? Is he hanging out with the right people? Should I be worried that she spends all her time in her room? Is this just a phase? Or a sign of something serious? As parents, we worry about our children—about their physical health, performance at school, the types of friends they have, and, of course, their mental health. Every day seems to bring new and expanding issues and disorders and troubling statistics about the rise of mental illness in children and teens. It’s usually obvious what to do for physical injuries like broken bones, but when it comes to our children’s mental health, the answers are much less clear, and sometimes even contradictory. Pier Bryden and Peter Szatmari, top child and adolescent psychiatrists, are here to help. Using their combined six decades working with families and kids—and their own experiences as parents—they break down the stigma of mental health illness and walk parents through the warning signs, risk factors, prevention strategies, and the process of diagnosis and treatment for mental health challenges arising from: –Eating disorders –Anxiety –Psychosis –Sleep Disorders –Substance Use Disorders –ADHD –Autism –Depression –Trauma –Suicidal thoughts and behaviors The most important thing to remember as a parent is that you and your child are not alone. Wellness is a continuum, and there is a lot parents can do to bring their child back to a place of safety. The road ahead isn’t always easy or straightforward, but this guidebook offers essential advice that every parent needs to advocate for their child.