Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a social worker for 32 years, with 24 years focusing on working with the most marginalized and complex population of youth in society. Hearing the voices of youth saying that child welfare was irrelevant and that many had problematic relationships with their work got me researching ways to think differently and shift practice to make our work with youth more meaningful to them and us as workers. With a background in journalism, I was prompted to write, finally resulting in a book on this subject. I teach a course on social work practice with high-risk youth and continue to do consultation, training, and speaking for youth-serving organizations. 


I wrote

Working with High-Risk Youth: A Relationship-based Practice Framework

By Peter Smyth,

Book cover of Working with High-Risk Youth: A Relationship-based Practice Framework

What is my book about?

This book focuses on high-risk youth whose struggles include neglect and abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, the risk of being…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

Peter Smyth Why did I love this book?

This is a compassionate look at addictions, covering neuroscience and how peoples’ lack of attachments can set them up for life-long struggles. The rationale for an anti-oppressive harm reduction approach helps build relationships, expand our understanding of addictions, and reduce the shame and guilt that come with trauma.

This book did more to push me to think about my practice and start truly understanding how trauma impacts the brain and how meaningful relationships can act to soothe people who are isolated, lonely, and disconnected.

For many people struggling in their lives, their template of the world is that people cannot be trusted. This is profoundly sad, so Maté offers insight into seeing the parts of the world we don’t even want to acknowledge in a different way. This offers hope.

By Gabor Maté,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A “thought-provoking and powerful” study that goes beyond simplistic self-help remedies to reframe everything you’ve been taught about addiction and recovery—from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Myth of Normal (Bruce Perry, author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog).

An addiction specialist combines real-life stories with cutting-edge research to offer a holistic approach to understanding addiction—its origins, its place in society, and the importance of self-compassion in recovery.

Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with the severely addicted on Vancouver’s skid row, this #1 international bestseller…


Book cover of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Peter Smyth Why did I love this book?

This is an amazing book and, after many years, continues to make its rounds among my colleagues and other social workers who are working with youth. They appreciate having read it, and it really helps workers think deeply about what trauma-informed ways of working actually mean.

The book helps clarify how people cope with trauma and how such behaviours are more to do with fear, coping, and trying to make sense of an unsafe world. This book is full of powerful comments and quotes that will stick with you. People with trauma do not act out due to being morally misguided but due to how their brains have been wired through trauma that can start in utero.

What you learn by reading this book is how ineffective punishment interventions are and what people need is relationships. If living with trauma, not only is mental health a challenge, but it can come with a host of physical illnesses and a shorter lifespan. This is even evident when working with youth. We can do better.

By Bessel Van Der Kolk,

Why should I read it?

21 authors picked The Body Keeps the Score as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 New York Times bestseller

"Essential reading for anyone interested in understanding and treating traumatic stress and the scope of its impact on society." -Alexander McFarlane, Director of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies

A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing in this New York Times bestseller

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der…


Book cover of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing

Peter Smyth Why did I love this book?

This is an important book for anyone working with children and youth. High-risk youth do not just appear; they have had very difficult and traumatic experiences starting at a very young age.

The stories shared in this book are powerful and help illustrate how the brain works for children growing up in, or experiencing, toxic environments. This will help social workers, psychologists, youth workers, outreach workers, foster and adoptive parents, teachers, police, childcare workers, and coaches to understand and make sense of what is going on for these children. It can help to not take things personally when children and youth are exhibiting negative attachment behaviours, they are pushing away, and even when they are lashing out. Letting people into their world takes a significant risk as they risk further rejection and abandonment.

However, Perry and Szalavitz outline the importance of relationships, lots of them. This can help mitigate some of the harm done and help create new neural pathways in the brain. Perry discusses the Neurosequential Model for mapping the brain and providing treatment and speaks to the need to pull children in for love and healing rather than pushing them away to teach them a lesson. This is as relevant for youth as it is for children. 

By Bruce D. Perry, Maia Szalavitz,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What happens when a young child is traumatized? How does terror affect a child's mind-and how can that mind recover? Child psychiatrist Bruce Perry has treated children faced with unimaginable horror: homicide survivors, witnesses to their own parents' murders, children raised in closets and cages, the Branch Davidian children, and victims of extreme neglect and family violence. In The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, Dr. Perry tells their stories of trauma and transformation. He explains what happens to the brain when children are exposed to extreme stress and trauma and reveals his innovative (non-medicinal) methods for helping to…


Book cover of Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs: 20 Skills to Build Resilience

Peter Smyth Why did I love this book?

This is an excellent book on the social-ecological perspective and helping youth “navigate and negotiate the resources they need for their well-being.” Through his many books, Ungar challenges the traditional view of resiliency and something inherent in some people to overcome adversity. We can all have a role in helping build resiliency in youth.

This book helps you understand how to help youth feel empowered and competent, create a positive identity, and learn skills to best get their needs met in constructive and positively reinforcing ways. For workers who think that handholding is enabling, they will learn that spending time with our youth and developing navigation and negotiating skills is fundamentally important and something all youth need, not just youth whose lives have been an ongoing struggle.

Ungar has tabbed guides that can be printed and used to help learn 20 navigation and negotiating skills and to help workers develop their strength-based practice.

By Michael Ungar,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This new edition of Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs provides detailed descriptions of techniques, ample case studies, fascinating and easy to understand explanations of research, and rich stories of how social workers, psychologists, counselors, child and youth care workers, and other mental health professionals can help young people become more resilient.

Fully updated and including new discussions of trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), resilience, genetic susceptibility to stress, the impact of migration and natural disasters on families, and much more, Dr. Ungar shows why we need to work just as hard changing the environments that surround children…


Book cover of Youth in Care Chronicles: Reflections on Growing Up in the Child Welfare System

Peter Smyth Why did I love this book?

I was fortunate to be involved with this book project (and write the foreword) with a number of very passionate people committed to supporting youth and giving them a voice.

The youth courageously wrote their stories so readers can learn from them, especially workers who are involved with providing support and helping youth. The youth share their experiences of growing up in the child welfare system, the good, the bad, and the ugly. They talk about what they learned and what they would like to see change and provide words of wisdom that can be valuable for workers to think about and reflect upon.

The stories demonstrate that youth want connections with healthy adults, but they are also a call to action for workers to get to know their youth, understand them, be genuine, and not judge them for circumstances beyond their control. This is a very heartfelt collection of life stories but also a valuable learning tool.

Explore my book 😀

Working with High-Risk Youth: A Relationship-based Practice Framework

By Peter Smyth,

Book cover of Working with High-Risk Youth: A Relationship-based Practice Framework

What is my book about?

This book focuses on high-risk youth whose struggles include neglect and abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, the risk of being exploited, mental health issues, and the inability to self-regulate and trust. This is a population of youth that government child welfare services and community agencies struggle to serve adequately.

The focus has traditionally been on punishment interventions and demanding compliance, but experience and research show that they can be better served through relationship-based practice incorporating harm reduction principles, resiliency and strength-based approaches, community collaboration, and an understanding that these youth typically come from experiences of early trauma that impacts their brain development, as well as their ability to form attachments. 

Book cover of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
Book cover of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Book cover of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing

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A Daily Dose of Now: 365 Mindfulness Meditation Practices for Living in the Moment

By Nita Sweeney,

Book cover of A Daily Dose of Now: 365 Mindfulness Meditation Practices for Living in the Moment

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Nita Sweeney Author Of How to Make Every Move a Meditation: Mindful Movement for Mental Health, Well-Being, and Insight

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Why am I passionate about this?

As a thirty-year meditator, certified meditation leader, and award-winning author, it’s my job to keep up on the latest books about mindfulness and Zen practice. Despite seeing new volumes being published regularly, I return to these books as great sources of solid practice information. Each of these authors explains meditation in accessible terms, easy for readers to follow and understand. I can’t remember who said that a confused reader is an antagonistic reader, but they are right. The books I’ve suggested offer clarity. They help readers begin or continue their practice and understand how and why meditation is worth their time.

Nita's book list on why meditation is worth your time and effort

What is my book about?

Reduce stress, ease anxiety, and increase inner peace—one day at a time—with a year of easy-to-follow mindfulness meditation techniques. Certified mindfulness teacher, bestselling author, ultramarathoner, wife, and dog-mom Nita Sweeney shares mindfulness meditation practices to help anyone break free from worry and self-judgment.

Mindfulness meditation trains you to live in the present moment—the now. Feel calmer. Think more clearly. Respond more effectively and enjoy a more fulfilling life. Even in tiny doses, mindfulness is scientifically proven to enhance physical and mental health, boost creativity, and improve cognition function.

A Daily Dose of Now: 365 Mindfulness Meditation Practices for Living in the Moment

By Nita Sweeney,


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