The Teen Interpreter: A Guide to the Challenges and Joys of Raising Adolescents
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
The Teen Interpreter is a generous roadmap for enjoying the most challenging, and rewarding, parenting years.
Once children hit adolescence, it seems as if overnight “I love you” becomes “leave me alone,” and any question from a parent can be dismissed with one word: “fine.” But while they may not show it, teenagers rely on their parents’ curiosity, delight, and connection to guide them through this period of exuberant growth as they navigate complex changes to their bodies, their thought processes, their social world, and their self-image.
In The Teen Interpreter, psychologist Terri Apter looks into teens’ minds—minds that are experiencing powerful new emotions and awareness of the world around them—to show how parents can revitalize their relationship with their children. She illuminates the rapid neurological developments of a teen’s brain, along with their new, complex emotions, and offers strategies for disciplining unsafe actions constructively and empathetically. Apter includes up-to-the moment case studies that shed light on the anxieties and vulnerabilities that today’s teens face, and she thoughtfully explores the positives and pitfalls of social media.
With perceptive conversation exercises that synthesize research from more than thirty years in the field, Apter illustrates how teens signal their changing needs and identities—and how parents can interpret these signals and see the world through their teens’ eyes. The Teen Interpreter is a generous roadmap for enjoying the most challenging, and rewarding, parenting years.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Psychologist Apter (Passing Judgment) brings some needed clarity to the oft-baffling teenage years in this eye-opening parenting guide. As she writes, teenagers "want to feel understood," and to that end she explores the rocky terrain of adolescence, debunking the myth of "teen as alien" and making a strong case for the importance of listening to and engaging with one's kid. Apter covers such topics as "the teenage brain" (which "barely registers small familiar pleasures. It requires novelty and excitement"), romance (which offers "both mystery and self-discovery"), and the end of teen years (21-year-olds are still adolescents, in terms of brain development), and offers concise advice: conversations with teens require a "watch-and-wait approach" and a willingness to back away when they're "too anxious to talk, or need time to organize thoughts in private." And there are plenty of concrete steps for parents to take—one can blunt negative aspects of social media by encouraging teens to follow positive accounts, and allowing children the ability to tell their stories can help them "put painful experiences into a broad context." Apter's reassuring tone and ability to cut through the chaos give her advice weight. This is a must-read for parents navigating their children's tumultuous teenage years.