Author Carol Thomas was formerly a school counselor and is now a therapist in private practice specializing in work with adolescents. She says she has always been interested in learning how to best provide support to grieving teens. In this article, Dr. Thomas interviews Ms. Wendy Littner Thomson, the Bereavement Coordinator and Counselor at St.…

In order to provide the best support possible to grieving youth it is important to understand how bereavement impacts adolescent development and how adolescent development impacts bereavement. In this article, prominent youth bereavement author, David Balk, explores these two key components focusing on cognitive, behavioral, and affective…

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a common and increasingly prevalent maladaptive coping method, often used by adolescents. The role of the media in the transmission of NSSI acceptance and adoption in mainstream culture is explored in this article. The increasing reach of the media, the particular susceptibility of adolescent and young adults to…

While awareness of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) appears to be increasing among school counselors, social workers, nurses, and others who work with youth, it remains one of the most difficult behaviors to encounter, with few professionals feeling well equipped to handle these situations. This introductory article aims to define NSSI, describe…

Adolescents living in poverty face numerous stressors that are toxic for their mental health and well-being. There are effective strategies for coping with poverty-related stress that have been shown to reduce psychological symptoms in the face of this stress. However, stress itself weakens an adolescent's ability to use these cognitively…

Self-injury is intentionally injuring one's body without suicidal intent. However, self-injury is often confused with a suicide attempt. Drawing on her experience as a clinical coordinator at an in-patient program for youth who self-injure, the author provides a background on self-injury, then explores how self-injury differs from suicide and why…

A comprehensive approach to suicide prevention is needed to effectively address the problem of teen suicide. This article describes three levels of prevention (primary prevention, intervention, and postvention) and provides practical strategies that community, mental, and social health professionals can use within each level to help prevent…

Adolescents possess numerous strengths and vulnerabilities based on their unique stage of development. When youth experience a disaster, whether natural or human-caused, there are certain considerations to be taken into account when providing them with support. This article describes common adolescent reactions to the impact phase of disasters as…

Dr. Donna Schuurman is the author of "Never the Same: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Parent" and the executive director of The Dougy Center for Grieving Children. In this article she answers a number of questions posed about grieving teens, including questions about the healthy grieving process for adolescents, the best ways to help a…

Bereavement researchers have made some significant advances in the understanding of the dynamics and the processes of managing grief. In this article, the author presents three of these advances that are central to a discussion of adolescent grief and of preventive interventions: (1) Increasingly, both clinical and research evidence indicate that…

Although low levels of stressful life experiences are considered to be a normal part of development, higher levels can constitute a threat to the well-being and healthy development of children and adolescents. Adolescents are exposed to increased rates of stressful life experiences and there is some evidence that increases in stressors account, at…

Although juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) account for a significant percentage of sex crimes committed in this country, researchers have only recently begun to study this population. One line of inquiry has been to investigate sub-types of offenders, in order to determine whether different types of offenders have different personality profiles and…

Based on over a decade of work in the area of PTSD, including a longitudinal study of PTSD among adolescents, Dr. Yule provides an introduction to post-traumatic stress disorder as it occurs in youth. This includes a look at the manifestations of stress reactions, the incidence and prevalence of PTSD, and the relationship between levels of…

It is estimated that between 3.3 million and 10 million children in the U.S. witness physical violence between their parents each year. This type of violence ranges from overhearing some form of violent behavior from their bedrooms, to seeing severe acts of violence such as beatings or assaults with guns and knives. In many cases, these youth…