Confident Teens: How to raise a positive, confident and happy teenager by Gael Lindenfield (HarperCollins, 2001)
A candid and sympathetic guide which should help parents to be prepared for the roller coaster teenage years. It covers: why experimentation is important to your teen's identity and well being; how to nurture your child through a bad patch; how to help your child develop healthy independence; and what teenagers worry about.
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Enjoy Your Teenagers by Jean Robb and Hilary Letts (Help Yourself, 2001)
Provides help and support for all parents who feel out of their depth, protective and anxious but also angry and frustrated when nothing seems to work. Aims to help parents understand the pressures teenagers are under, but also how to get on with their own lives and maintain a sense of perspective.
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First Time Parents' Survival Guide by Emma Scattergood (Cassell, 1998)
A guide to being a parent for the first time, an experience which can be frustrating and exhausting as well as thrilling. Has good reviews from readers on the Amazon site.
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Get Out of My Life, But First Take Me and Zoe into Town: A guide to the new teenager by Tony Wolf and Suzanne Franks (Profile Books, 2002)
A survival guide for parents who find themselves marooned among volatile and incomprehensible aliens on Planet Teen. Covers school, sex, drugs and suicide but the chapter on 'What They Do and Why' best captures the book's spirit and technique.
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Helping Your Child Cope with Depression and Suicidal Thoughts by Tonia Shamoo and Philip Patros (Jossey Bass Wiley, 1997)
Helps parents learn to talk, listen, and communicate effectively with a depressed child; what situations can cause a child or adolescent to wish to commit suicide; what signs to watch for; myths and misinformation about suicide; how to determine the risk of suicide and how to intervene.
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How to Deal with Your Acting-Up Teenager: Practical self-help for desperate parents by Robert T Bayard and Jean Bayard (M Evans, 1983)
Offers parents practical advice on giving their teenagers responsibility, reinforcing good behaviour, and standing up for parental rights.
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Introducing Child Psychology by H Rudolph Schaffer (Blackwell Publishers, 2003)
Written at a level that assumes no previous knowledge, this excellent introduction to child psychology tells us about the nature and development of children.
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Parents, Teens and Boundaries: How to draw the line by Jane Bluestein (Health Communications, 1993)
Offers parents practical strategies for setting boundaries with their teenagers, avoiding conflict, resolving problems, and establishing mutual respect. It comes highly recommended by therapists and other writers.
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How to Succeed as a Single Parent by Diane Louise Jordan (Hodder and Stoughton, 2003)
With a mixture of practical advice and real life stories, Jordan provides guidance on defining your role as a single parent, teaching your child self-discipline, setting boundaries and learning to praise your child.
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Solo Dad Survival Guide: Raising kids on your own by R F Davis and Nick Borns (Contemporary Books, 1999)
A practical guide with advice and support for dads who are on their own with the children full or part time.
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Stress and Depression in Children and Teenagers by Vicky Maud (Sheldon Press, 2002)
Statistics show that depression affects 5 in every 100 teenagers. This guide for parents and others helping children and teenagers to cope contains many case studies and practical suggestions for reducing stress and coping with the symptoms of depression.
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Teenagers: The Agony, the Ecstasy, the Answers by Aidan Macfarlane and Ann McPherson (Time Warner, 2000)
Highlights areas of conflict and gives advice on how to get things right by basing the answers on painstaking research. Looks at issues such as smoking, drinking, sexual relationships, depression and self-harm and offers lots of practical advice.
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Teens Under the Influence: The truth about kids, alcohol, and other drugs by Katherine Ketcham and Nicholas Pace (Ballantine Books, 2003)
The authors present an honest and factual look at the problem of teenage substance abuse in this valuable parenting resource. Their compassionate approach should be highly valuable both to parents of children who are already abusing drugs and alcohol and to those who want to prevent their kids from ever using.
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The Terrible Teens: What every parent needs to know by Kate Figes (Viking, 2002)
Mood swings, how teenagers think, reducing conflict, family living, the importance of friendships, life at school, sex, drink and drugs are just some of the areas covered. It provides parents with the answers to their problems and teenagers with the reassurance that they are not alone in feeling misunderstood. Essential reading for any parent.
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Unhappy Teenagers by William Glasser (HarperCollins, 2002)
Dr Glasser asks parents to reject the common sense that tells them to "lay down the law" with teenagers and argues that these strategies have never worked and never will. Instead he offers an approach based upon Choice Theory. Glasser spells out the seven deadly habits parents practice and then shows them how to accomplish their goals by changing their own behaviour.
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Violence Proof Your Kids Now: How to recognise the warning signs and what to do about them by Erika V Shearin Karres (Conari Press, 2000)
School violence expert shows every parent and teacher how to identify and deal with youth violence, distilling her 30-plus years of research and offering successful strategies to keep kids safe.
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Where's Your Head?: Psychology for teenagers by Dale B Carlson and Hannah Carlson (Bick Publishing, 1998)
Discusses the entire range of human psychological development while focusing on the mind, feelings, and behaviours of teenagers and ways in which adolescents can understand their personality formation. An excellent insight for parents into the psychology of teenagers.
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How to Help Someone Who is Suicidal by Kate Hill and Janet Gorman (Mind Publications, 2002) £1
This very useful short booklet in the Mind 'How to' series looks at the reasons people may develop suicidal feelings, some of the warning signs and ways to help.
Available to buy online from Mind at: www.mind.org.uk/osb/itemdetails.cfm/ID/97
 

Not Just a Cry for Help (PAPYRUS, 2001). Free from Papyrus but donations welcome.
A helpful booklet for anyone who knows someone who has made a suicide attempt.
Free download from the website or it can be sent in the post for free: Go to: www.papyrus-uk.org/papyrus-publications.html
 

Teenage Suicide and Self-Harm by John Coleman, Juliet Lyon and Roz Piper (audiocassette and booklet, Trust for the Study of Adolescence, 2002) £14.95
Available from TSA by phoning 01273 693311 or e-mail: publications@tsa.uk.com
or order from their website at: www.tsa.uk.com/
Information and advice on suicide and self-harm. Parents and teenagers talk about their experiences.
 

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