Working with High-Risk Adolescents

Reviews / Votes

"Selekman has done it again. He offers the reader an integrative client-centered therapy approach that is grounded in a long tradition of systemic and solution-focused therapies. We are given a front-row seat to observe a master therapist as he walks us through his own clinical cases to demonstrate his creative process. This book will surely inspire therapists to be more bold and adventurous in co-creating with family members a therapeutic experience that challenges and disrupts stagnant relational patterns and replaces them with new possibilities."--Guy Diamond, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania; Director, PhD Program in Couple and Family Therapy and Center for Family Intervention Science, Drexel University

"It is hard to imagine this book ever being surpassed as a guide to working with adolescents in serious difficulty. Its solid grounding in solution-focused and strengths-based practice is supplemented by a distillation of theoretical and practical wisdom from a host of different therapeutic approaches. As well as dealing specifically with major issues such as violence and self-harm, Selekman offers a pathway through the delicate business of interdisciplinary and interagency collaboration. His suggestions are clear and simple, and he takes time to address every conceivable stumbling point on the way to a successful outcome. Selekman brings to this book not just a lifetime of face-to-face work with adolescents and their families, but also an erudition second to none. This book is a gift to the future of any struggling adolescent lucky enough to meet a professional who has read it."--Chris Iveson, therapist and co-founder, BRIEF, London, United Kingdom

"Intervening with high-risk adolescents and their families is probably the most challenging work that we therapists do. Selekman draws on extensive up-to-date research literature in presenting his strengths-based, integrative approach. He systematically selects from existing evidence-based approaches and also explains numerous creative interventions he has developed and used over the years. The book makes a strong case for therapists to flexibly individualize family therapy rather than rigidly adhering to a treatment protocol. Therapists should never find themselves stuck when working with these families again. This is also an excellent text for family therapy courses."--Gilbert J. Greene, PhD, College of Social Work, The Ohio State University

"This book offers a real-world compass for working from a strengths-based, solution-oriented perspective with today's high-risk adolescents. It captures the craft of a seasoned practitioner, and benefits from the author's keen perspective on the interconnected family, societal, and individual attributes that can enhance an adolescent's growth and health. Selekman provides practical guidance and a menu of theoretically informed options and strategies that clinicians can start using right away. Graduate students in clinical practice courses would benefit from the riveting case examples, which will fuel lively discussion, as well as the presentation of clinical decision-making processes rarely depicted in such detail."--Mariann Suarez, PhD, ABPP, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, University of South Florida Health, Morsani College of Medicine

"Selekman's text will appeal to graduate students and therapists with an array of experience. Even those therapists who have worked with adolescents for years will find the novel presentation of material refreshing and Selekman's approach thoughtful and scientifically informed....Selekman not only addresses the challenges facing clients in engaging in therapy but also includes diverse ideas for how to enhance effectiveness and creativity in one's work. In short, Selekman's text offers practical and insightful guidance for how to implement manualized treatments in real-life settings, making it a welcome addition to a professional library for novice to experienced therapists."--PsycCRITIQUES