Understanding teenagers - Tony Humphreys

The teenage years can be a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows leading to behaviour that many adults find difficult and disturbing. This book seeks to help parents, teachers and other adults who are significant in the lives of teenagers to understand this troubled and troublesome behaviour.

Helping young people towards maturity, demands of adults that they be mature themselves. Without such maturity it is difficult to relate fully to the challenging behaviour of some adolescents. A relationship that is genuine, non-judgemental, compassionate, empathic and unconditionally loving is necessary in order to resolve conflicts that so often arise between parents, other adults and teenagers.

The authors emphasise that no matter how problematic a young person's behaviour may be, there is a cause or explanation; appreciation of this goes a long way towards helping young people to resolve that which is troubling them

The book is structured so that each chapter stands on its own, allowing the reader to focus on specific issues that may arise in their own and their teenagers' lives.