Treating the Tough Adolescent

Scott P. Sells, PhD, is Professor of Social Work at Savannah State University and Clinical Director of the Savannah Family Institute. He has treated more than 800 difficult children and adolescents, has spoken nationally on this topic, and has published a number of related journal articles. His 6-week educational program for parents of difficult children and teenagers, Parenting With Love and Limits(TM), has been adopted as a standard model in Virginia; Ohio; and Savannah, Georgia.

Using Treating the Tough Adolescent as a text provides my students with a clear, concise understanding of the strategic therapy model and its application. Many students (as well as veteran therapists) are intimidated by the idea of working with out-of-control teens and their families. Dr. Sells's book is written in a straightforward way and offers specific strategies that, when followed, will lead to success.--Peter D. Bradley, PhD, Department of Family Therapy, Texas Woman's UniversityThis book is a gem. Sells provides front-line clinicians with a step-by-step road map for doing effective family therapy with difficult adolescents. If you wish to know what an advanced structural-strategic family therapy model looks like, read this book. --Matthew D. Selekman, MSW, Response Center, Skokie, IL Treating the Tough Adolescent offers a sensible and strategic approach to resolving the family problems of difficult adolescents....This is a valuable book that wedges research-supported ideas into practical guidance for therapists struggling with exasperating adolescents and their families. --from the Foreword by Jay HaleyDr. Sells's approach, which is theoretically derived, extensively researched, and carefully refined, is logical, considerate, eminently practical, and easy to follow. His explanations of what to do, why to do it, and how to do it should be accessible and useful to all. --from the Foreword by Neil Schiff- One of the best treatment manuals for working with adolescent problems that exists within the family therapy field....a must read for everyone who treats difficult teenagers. --Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 7/28/2004ƒƒ I recommend this book for any mental health clinician who works with difficult adolescents and their families. It is an excellent volume outlining a step-by-step approach to effecting lasting change in severely behaviorally disordered adolescents. --Canadian Child Psychiatry Review, 7/28/2004

• I. A Family-Based Model for Difficult Adolescents1. Introduction2. Point of Entry: Why Difficult Teenagers Have Problems3. A Model for ChangeII. Specific Principles and Guidelines4. Setting Clear Rules and Consequences: The Basic Work of Therapy5. Changing the Timing and Process of Confrontations6. Neutralizing the Adolescent's Five Aces7. Restoring Nurturance and TendernessIII. Special Treatment Issues and Circumstances8. Working with Outsiders9. Single-Parent Families: Sharing Parental Responsibility10. Divorce and Stepfamily Problems11. Alcohol and Drug Use: I Don't Have a ProblemIV. Research Findings and Future Implications12. Process-Outcome Research and the Family-Based Model: Refining and Operationalizing Key Theoretical Concepts