Adolescents are often an overlooked clinical population. Among school-based practitioners, there is a natural inclination to focus the delivery of mental health services, assessment measures, and intervention plans on younger children, and there is a strong research base to support these programs. On the other hand, the waiting rooms of most practitioners in private practice are filled with young and middle-age adults, couples, or families with young children. Because most therapists do not specialize in working with teens, who might make up only a small portion of their overall caseload, there is a need for high quality, easily implemented activities to help engage with adolescent clients. This book provides an overview of the principles of therapeutic storytelling, developmental issues of adolescents and young adulthood, and their strengths-based model, before moving into a series of chapters devoted to specific issues. Commonly encountered topics such as sexuality, parent & peer relationships, substance abuse, violence & gangs, bereavement, and cultural and religious issues are covered within the chapters. Includes a convenient companion website designed to facilitate ease of use for the busy professional or academic contains printable storytelling and activity worksheets, color photographs for phototherapy and guided imagery, and additional resources/website links.

A comprehensive collection of hundreds of thought-provoking stories and activities for use in the treatment of children confronting difficult situations Storytelling and Other Activities for Children in Therapy provides professionals with the knowledge, insight, and tools to help children (ages 6 to 12) and their families work through their treatment issues using storytelling and other activities. This invaluable guide includes helpful activity sheets that gradually progress through four levels of inquiry, representing readiness for self-disclosure. Imaginative and easy-to-use, the stories and activities in this book are tied to relevant practice issues, including: Illness and disability School issues Anger and behavioral issues Social adjustment and shyness Divorce and parental separation Domestic violence Community violence Trauma and child abuse Substance abuse Death With an accompanying website allowing therapists to personalize and print stories as well as activity sheets to meet their needs and those of their clients, Storytelling and Other Activities for Children in Therapy is an important tool in easing the pain of emotionally hurt children towards a discovery of their inner strengths and resilience for life. These resources can be accessed at www.wiley.com/go/slivinske.

A comprehensive guide to understanding and using storytelling in therapy with kids and teens "George Burns is a highly experienced clinician with the remarkable ability to create, discover, and tell engaging stories that can teach us all the most important lessons in life. With 101 Healing Stories for Kids and Teens, he strives especially to help kids and teens learn these life lessons early on, providing them opportunities for getting help and even learning to think preventively." -Michael D. Yapko, PhD | Author of Breaking the Patterns of Depression and Hand-Me-Down Blues "George Burns takes the reader on a wonderful journey, balancing metaphor, good therapeutic technique, and empirical foundations during the trip. Given that Burns utilizes all three aspects of the Confucian story referred to in the book-teaching, showing, and involving-readers should increase their understanding of how stories can be used therapeutically." -Richard G. Whiteside, MSW | Author of The Art of Using and Losing Control and Working with Difficult Clients: A Practical Guide to Better Therapy "A treasure trove for parents and for professionals in the child-development fields." -Jeffrey K. Zeig, PhD | Director, The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Stories can play an important and potent role in therapy with children and adolescents-helping them develop the skills to cope with and survive a myriad of life situations. In many cases, stories provide the most effective means of communicating what kids and teens might not want to discuss directly. 101 Healing Stories for Kids and Teens provides straightforward advice on using storytelling and metaphors in a variety of therapeutic settings. Ideal for all who work with young people, this unique resource can be combined with other inventive and evidence-based techniques such as play, art, music, and drama therapies as well as solution focused, hypnotic, and cognitive-behavioral approaches. Offering guidance for new clinicians and seasoned professionals, George Burns's latest work delivers a unique combination-information on incorporating storytelling in therapy, dozens of ready-made stories, and tips for creating original therapeutic stories. Innovative chapters include: * Guidance for effective storytelling * Using metaphors effectively * Where to get ideas for healing stories * Planning and presenting healing stories * Teaching parents to use healing stories In addition, 101 Healing Stories for Kids and Teens includes dozens of story ideas designed to address a variety of issues, such as: * Enriching learning * Teaching self-care * Changing patterns of behavior * Managing relationships, emotions, and life challenges * Creating helpful thoughts * Developing life skills and problem-solving techniques

This book addresses the challenges faced when children who refuse to talk, children who lack psychological mindedness, teens who experience a strong aversion to the influence of any adult, and children and teens who mask their woundedness by hostility or diffidence show up for therapy. This book does not push one therapeutical or theoretical approach over another but specifically describes useful tools that can be utilized within a wide range of approaches.

Winner of the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year 2011 (Category: Maternal And Child Health) Building on children's natural inclinations to pretend and reenact, play therapy is widely used in the treatment of psychological problems in childhood. This book is the only one of its kind with more than 200 therapeutic activities specifically designed for working with children and teenagers within the healthcare system. It provides evidence-based, age-appropriate activities for interventions that promote coping. The activities target topics such as separation anxiety, self-esteem issues, body image, death, isolation, and pain. Mental health practitioners will appreciate its "cookbook" format, with quickly read and implemented activities.

Showcasing approaches as creative and playful as young clients themselves, the book presents therapy as a dialogue of discovery. Through transcripts and compelling case examples, contributors illuminate how drama, art, play, and humor can be used effectively to engage with children of different ages, and to honor their idiosyncratic language, knowledge, and perspective.