Growing up in the South Wales Valleys during the 1970s and 80s, I witnessed firsthand the effects of multiple adversities on the lives of those around me. Life was difficult for many families in the area as they battled with poverty, ill health, and lack of opportunity. I watched many amazing, creative, and talented young people fail to realise their potential. This sparked a passion and a career for supportive intervention with families and young children. It is my aim to help equip the workforce to better understand and respond to childhood adversity, be trauma aware, advocate for children’s rights, and make a positive difference in the lives of children and young people.
I wrote
Strength-based Practice with Children and Families
I have long been interested in Seigman's work on positive psychology. Increasingly, we are living in a world where hope is a diminishing commodity. Wars, economic downturns, and the climate crisis are all making life feel more uncertain, and 24-hour news culture and an omnipresent internet make it difficult for young people to escape the negative images that bombard them.
Statistics on children and young people’s mental health are frightening, with NHS England estimating that in 2023, 1 in 5 children and young people aged between 8 and 25 had a probable mental health disorder. Parents and practitioners alike are looking at these statistics in dismay and wondering how we can best equip and safeguard our children. Seligman’s book confronts these issues head-on in a thought-provoking and evidenced-based way.
This highly practical book considers how optimism can be learned and that by viewing setbacks as temporary, children and young people can become more resilient. Focusing on what can be changed and what must simply be endured, Seligman presents a compelling argument that a disposition of optimism can enhance children and young people’s well-being.
New York Times bestselling author Martin E. P. Seligman's The Optimistic Child is "the first major work to provide an effective program for preventing depression in childhood — and probably later in life" (Aaron T. Beck, author of Love is Never Enough).
The epidemic of depression in America strikes 30% of all children. Now Martin E. P. Seligman, the bestselling author of Learned Optimism, and his colleagues offer parents and educators a program clinically proven to cut that risk in half. With this startling research, parents can teach children to apply optimism skills that can curb depression, boost school performance,…
I love that this book is written primarily for parents. It presents the idea that by “flicking the strengths switch” and focusing on children’s many strengths rather than highlighting their weaknesses, parents can enjoy a better relationship with their children, help them develop optimism and resilience, and help protect against anxiety and depression.
It encourages parents to look for the good, become strength spotters, and help children build on positive emotions. However, the book is very nuanced and rejects a simplistic understanding of simply building children’s self-esteem in favour of research-based practices to help children become the best version of themself, especially in tough circumstances.
The book is very readable and filled with practical examples and compelling storytelling. It shows how a small shift in parenting approach can yield strong and lasting benefits for children and for families as a whole.
Unlock your child's potential by helping them build their strengths.
As a strengths-based scientist for more than 20 years, Dr Lea Waters has witnessed first-hand how focusing on our children's strengths, rather than correcting their weaknesses, can help build resilience and optimism, and offer protection from depression and anxiety.
In this game-changing book, she argues that by throwing the 'strength switch' parents can encourage creativity, develop their children's self-esteem and energy, and enhance achievement - and she offers easy-to-follow steps to teach parents how.
With specific tips for interacting with your kids and your teens, The Strength Switch offers all…
I had been wanting to read this book for a long while but knew that it deserved setting aside a good chunk of time to really appreciate it! I finally picked it up during the first COVID lockdown and was fully engaged from the very first page.
This is the very best book that I have ever read on childhood trauma. For me, this book was like doing a specialist course in neuroscience. I learned so much about how adversity and extreme stress affect a child’s brain. However, despite dealing with harrowing material, the authors never lose their focus on hope for a positive outcome. They consider how even children who have lived through unspeakable suffering can experience healing and wholeness.
The importance of compassionate and nurturing relationships is paramount within this exceptional book, based on real-life case files.
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…
It is difficult to imagine a more adverse childhood experience than growing up in a refugee camp.
In 2016 and 2017, I was privileged to spend some time working with children and families in a refugee camp in North France. The living conditions were very difficult, with regular food shortages, ill health, uncertainty, and ever-present danger. However, I was continually amazed by the resilience, creativity, generosity, and humour shown by the children, even in the face of such difficulties.
When Stars Are Scattered is a beautiful children’s book that tells the true story of Omar and his brother Hassan as they grow up in a Kenyan refugee camp. Filled with beautiful illustrations and thoughtful insights into daily life in the camp, this book exemplifies hope in the face of adversity.
A National Book Award Finalist, this remarkable graphic novel is about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a former Somali refugee to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl.
Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future . . . but it would…
Enter a captivating world where science fiction and thrilling suspense converge. After plummeting from the roof of Helix Unbound, Amanda awakens to a life devoid of memories. Desperately longing to fit in, yet sensing she harbors an extraordinary secret beneath her seemingly ordinary facade, she explores the unfamiliar world in…
I am always looking for books that can help children and young adults to understand difficult issues. Endorsed by EmpathyLab, Sold is an extraordinary novel that explores the world of trafficking and modern-day slavery from the perspective of Roza, a fifteen-year-old Albanian girl who comes to the UK expecting a better life but finds herself trapped into a life of domestic servitude.
In this riveting read, Roza exemplifies human resilience, courage, and determination. She is a great example of an individual building on her own strengths and the help of those around her to overcome immense adversity.
Aimed at young adults, this book can also be beneficial to practitioners who can use it to prompt discussion about adversity, human trafficking, and young people’s resilience.
1
author picked
Sold
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This book is for kids age
13,
14,
15, and
16.
What is this book about?
15-year-old Roza thinks she's leaving Albania for better things in the UK.
However, when she arrives, she realizes this is a lie. Her father has sold her to get out of debt. The Braka family now consider her their property. They work her hard, beat and starve her, and refuse to let her go out. But she must tell people they are her parents. When she runs to the police, her captors show them a forged birth certificate. She is dismissed as attention-seeking and returned to them for punishment.
She doesn't think life can get much worse. But when she…
Strength-based practice is an optimistic and empowering approach that is becoming increasingly popular in the education sector, from early years to middle childhood and youth services. This book helps those working with children and families embed this approach in their practice to make a positive difference in children's lives.
Intended for students and practitioners working with children and families, this book provides a practical guide, demonstrating how to identify strengths in the most challenging of situations and offers an optimistic and empowering approach using a diverse range of case studies. It is also relevant for those involved in SEND and social work. Using case studies and reflective questions, this book marries the practical and theoretical, demonstrating how to apply this approach in a variety of settings.
My book is fantastical historical fiction about two characters who're wrestling with the monstrosity of their grief.
It takes you into London high society, where Ambrose tries to forget about how much he misses Bennett and how much he dreads becoming as cold as their Grandfather. It takes you to…
When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she can't remember her past, is getting the cold shoulder from her best friend, and has no idea why she keeps repeating the same mistakes across her previous lives. Elliot just wants to move on, but first, she'll be forced to…
