Helping Teenagers into Adulthood

The current generation of adolescents are experiencing more stressful and/or negative experiences at an earlier age in their development than previous generations. The consequence is that more and more teenagers are becoming casualties of drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, and mental illness. In this book, George R. Holmes provides care-givers and parents with specific tactics to move teenagers successfully through adolescence.

The prevention of adolescent casualties is accomplished by the practice of three major prevention strategies. The first provides a clear understanding of the complex changes adolescents experience with what Holmes calls a map of the territory called adolescence. The second involves a set of interpersonal prescriptions or ways to communicate with teens that have proven usefulness. The third encourages a renaissance in schools serving teenagers by bringing technology and talent to the classroom in a new way. These strategies are designed to promote greater levels of social competency among teenagers. This, in turn, leads to fewer major emotional problems and a more successful move to adulthood. Holmes's volume is an important tool for counselors, mental health professionals, social workers, and others dealing with today's adolescents.

GEORGE R. HOLMES is a Professor in the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. In addition he serves as the Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychology in the Child and Adolescent Division of the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute, Columbia, S.C. Holmes has published widely on the subject

ong his earlier books is Adolescent Group Therapy<./i> (Praeger, 1991).