Michael J. Nakkula – författare

An effective new therapeutic model that integrates the client's and therapist's values This groundbreaking book offers therapists and counselors an effective new therapeutic model based on hermeneutics--the art and science of interpretation. It recognizes that the clinician is not a neutral observer in the therapeutic process but brings to the interaction his or her own values, judgments, and prejudices. Grounded in theory yet deeply inspirational, the book is filled with rich personal reflections from real-world clinicians who have used this model and found the process to be deeply transformative. This new approach not only deepens the therapeutic relationship but has proven to be especially effective with young clients at risk for negative outcomes.

This groundbreaking three-volume set spotlights how conditions around the world are affecting the healthy development of adolescents in their respective environments, on all six continents.Continually unstable or perpetually poor economic conditions, globalization, and rapid technological change are just three of the forces affecting a group 1.2 billion strong today, a demographic poised to become our world leaders and catalysts in the not-too-distant future: the world's adolescents. Led by two editors who have been dedicated to studying adolescent development worldwide for decades, this novel collection of works from contributors in more than 40 countries emphasizes how possibilities for healthy mental and physical development are affected by the difficulties youths face in their countries and how these challenges have shaped, and are shaping, contemporary teenage life today.The set comprehensively addresses issues for adolescents across the globe, such as the day-to-day challenges of poverty, inadequate education, violence or war, disease, reproductive matters, globalization and technological challenges, and more, while also providing a strengths-based focus in the volumes, showing how and why some teenagers in each country have surmounted the challenges and forged stronger characters to better their worlds. These stories document more than personal victories, and their experiences matter to far more than the adolescents themselves. In its State of the World's Children 2011 report, UNICEF noted that the world community needs to turn its attention to adolescents in need, explaining that focusing on this large and potentially powerful group makes economic sense as well as being a necessary step in working towards achieving human justice. By addressing the risks, challenges, and strengths of teenagers as a group in countries worldwide, this work serves to break the cycle of poverty, violence, discrimination, and death for adolescents.

It is a great pleasure to offer this volume from Michael J. Nakkula, Karen C. Foster, Marc Mannes, and Shenita Bolstrom as the latest in the Search Institute Series on Developmentally Attentive Community and Society. Its importance to the series and this ?eld of inquiry and practice is readily evident in its title, Building Healthy Communities for Positive Youth Development. Since the early 1990s, Search Institute has invited and encouraged communities of all shapes and sizes to use its framework of Developmental Assets and principles of asset building to create strong, vibrant, and welcoming communities for children and youth. We have operated largely at the grassroots level, encouraging innovation and adaptation around a shared vision, rather than proposing a program or model for replication. We seek to learn as much from the communities as they learn from us. This book offers in-depth case studies of what happened in eight diverse c- munities that took up our invitation. In them, we see a wide array of strategies and approaches that, on the surface, seem to have little coherence. But, as Nakkula and colleagues found, underlying each of these distinct efforts was a deep commitment to transforming the social norms of community life to more effectively attend to young people’s healthy development throughout the ?rst two decades of life. There have been many ambitious efforts aimed at comprehensive community change on behalf of young people.

It is a great pleasure to offer this volume from Michael J. Nakkula, Karen C. Foster, Marc Mannes, and Shenita Bolstrom as the latest in the Search Institute Series on Developmentally Attentive Community and Society. Its importance to the series and this ?eld of inquiry and practice is readily evident in its title, Building Healthy Communities for Positive Youth Development. Since the early 1990s, Search Institute has invited and encouraged communities of all shapes and sizes to use its framework of Developmental Assets and principles of asset building to create strong, vibrant, and welcoming communities for children and youth. We have operated largely at the grassroots level, encouraging innovation and adaptation around a shared vision, rather than proposing a program or model for replication. We seek to learn as much from the communities as they learn from us. This book offers in-depth case studies of what happened in eight diverse c- munities that took up our invitation. In them, we see a wide array of strategies and approaches that, on the surface, seem to have little coherence. But, as Nakkula and colleagues found, underlying each of these distinct efforts was a deep commitment to transforming the social norms of community life to more effectively attend to young people’s healthy development throughout the ?rst two decades of life. There have been many ambitious efforts aimed at comprehensive community change on behalf of young people.

It is a great pleasure to offer this volume from Michael J. Nakkula, Karen C. Foster, Marc Mannes, and Shenita Bolstrom as the latest in the Search Institute Series on Developmentally Attentive Community and Society. Its importance to the series and this ?eld of inquiry and practice is readily evident in its title, Building Healthy Communities for Positive Youth Development. Since the early 1990s, Search Institute has invited and encouraged communities of all shapes and sizes to use its framework of Developmental Assets and principles of asset building to create strong, vibrant, and welcoming communities for children and youth. We have operated largely at the grassroots level, encouraging innovation and adaptation around a shared vision, rather than proposing a program or model for replication. We seek to learn as much from the communities as they learn from us. This book offers in-depth case studies of what happened in eight diverse c- munities that took up our invitation. In them, we see a wide array of strategies and approaches that, on the surface, seem to have little coherence. But, as Nakkula and colleagues found, underlying each of these distinct efforts was a deep commitment to transforming the social norms of community life to more effectively attend to young people’s healthy development throughout the ?rst two decades of life. There have been many ambitious efforts aimed at comprehensive community change on behalf of young people.

Adolescent development research and theory have tremendous potential to inform the work of high school teachers, counselors, and administrators. Understanding Youth bridges the gap between adolescent development theory and practice. Nakkula and Toshalis explore how factors such as social class, peer and adult relationships, gender norms, and the media help to shape adolescents’ sense of themselves and their future expectations and aspirations.