Gift of Teenagers
'Rachel's book is full of wisdom and support. I love that she has a consistently compassionate viewpoint - both towards teenagers and the ones raising them' - SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTOR
'Every parent should buy this book...it is full of practical strategies to connect with your teenager'
- SIR ANTHONY SELDON
'A masterful account of the parenting teens journey, weaving personal anecdotes with brain science and relationship psychology' - JANEY DOWNSHIRE
'As a mum to 3 boys, I wish I had a book like this a decade ago!' - LAVINA MEHTA MBE
'Netflix drama Adolescence showed just how little many parents know about their children's lives. Now a major new book provides an essential toolkit for parents (and grandparents) to navigate through this modern minefield.' - THE MAIL
This book is an 'invaluable resource' - TABLET MAGAZINE
'The Gift of Teenagers is packed full of compassion and wisdom' - JULIA BUENO, psychotherapist and author of Everyone's a Critic
"Full of tips, wisdom and advice on how to survive and thrive when living with teenagers, this book is an absolute must for any parent with teenagers or tweens.'
- DR MAX PEMBERTON, DAILY MAIL
'You don't really want to ignore parenting advice from someone intelligent and thoughtful who has had five children, do you? Rachel Kelly writes very honestly about her own struggles with mental health, and how this has influenced her as a parent.' - CATHERINE EVANS, Podcaster, Founder of Inkspot Publishing and trustee of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival
We live in a time of huge worry about our teenagers and their mental health - from fears of a phone-obsessed adolescence to concerns about an offline world of bullying and drugs, not to mention gender identity. But what if we parents don't need to be so fearful? What if our teenagers are a gift we can all learn from?
In this authoritative book by an established mental health writer with advice from experts in the field, Rachel Kelly shares how bringing up her five children in an anxious age, and her work for ten years with young people in schools and at universities, has led to her own psychological growth. Raising resilient teenagers begins with becoming a more resilient - and better informed - parent, someone who has learned to manage their own emotions, become aware of their parenting style, and understand the world our teenagers are growing up in.
Thus armed, we can engage with our adolescents better and discover how they, and their brains, work (short answer: not always like us!). The book also offers psychologically helpful (and evidence-based) approaches for supporting our teenagers, from personal relationships to navigating social media. Whisper it, but it might even be a fun ride.
Rachel Kelly is a best selling writer, speaker, mental health advocate and former Times journalist. She has written five books sharing her experience of depression and evidence-based strategies that have helped her feel better - everything from cooking to poetry to mindfulness to exercise. She has spoken all over the world from Delhi to Sydney, America and across the UK. Her books are published in over 10 countries and she is an official ambassador for mental health charities Rethink Mental Illness, SANE and The Counselling Foundation. She is the mother of three boys and two girls, all now grown-up.
Dr Carla Croft is a clinical psychologist who runs clinical psychology in four London hospitals and is a mother of two boys and a girl. This is her first book.