Equipping Young People to Choose Non-Violence

“The continued need for comprehensive and co-ordinated policies to address the disadvantaged and troubled familial, social and cultural experiences of many young people will always be critical in dealing with many aspects of societal violence. To expect individual young people to be able to always choose ‘non-violent’ approaches just through individual work without cognisance being given to the bigger picture of their lives is unrealistic.”

Bullyproofing – Four Steps to Build Your Daughter’s Personal Power

“Bully behavior occurs in overt forms, such as hitting, name calling, and teasing as well as through relational aggression – a virulent style of bullying most prevalent among girls, in which relationships are manipulated to settle grudges. This more covert style of rumor spreading and social exclusion is bred by the round-the-clock availability of popular social networking sites… Even when the final school bells rings, many young girls deal with relational aggression 24/7.”

Transformative Supervision for the Helping Professions – An Interview with Nicki Weld

“As I talk about in the book, my best transformative moments in supervision both as a supervisor and supervisee have come from boldness and braveness. They’ve also come from courage and creativity, where the supervisor has brought their knowledge and understanding of a person into the room and made a connection, or asked a question that takes the supervisee on a new direction. It’s also when a supervisee has said, “I want to go further, I want to look deeper, not just ‘debrief'”.

Recognizing and Helping the Neglected Child – An Interview with Brigid Daniel, Julie Taylor and Jane Scott

“Social workers tended to focus on responses to referrals and may need help to look beyond that to an overall picture of the child’s development. Other professional groups (such as dentists or nursery nurses or teachers) are well-placed to pick up on signals that a child might be being neglected, but may need more help to recognise this, and to know how to respond. Further, mothers in particular can recognise when they are struggling. Practitioners should not be afraid to ask them how they feel their parenting is going.”

Using analogies and metaphors to understand and help defeat a child’s eating disorder – An Interview with Ahmed Boachie and Karin Jasper

“The analogies and metaphors in our book help parents understand eating disorders in a way that allows them to ally themselves with treatment rather than with the eating disorder. Children who believe that others grasp their experience find it easier to open up. They feel understood, respected, appreciated, and supported, thus decreasing their guilt and improving their listening.”

Looking beyond “bad” behaviour – Melanie Cross on the importance of recognising communication difficulties in young people

“Non-compliance might be due to not understanding what’s been asked and not knowing how to ask for clarification. What might be seen as a refusal to explain might be due to difficulties constructing coherent narratives. Conflict resolution and negotiation require high-level language skills and if these are lacking, then aggression can result. If adults do not recognise the underlying communication problems, the children and young people who experience them can be misunderstood and even misdiagnosed.”