Description
Book SynopsisChallenges current adult-led approaches to working with vulnerable young people, and introduces practitioners and students to creative methods that will enhance the self-worth of children and teenagers.
Anthropologist and social worker, Rachel Burr, outlines clear communication techniques for working with children and young people to support them towards self-determination. By critically examining the dominant approaches to children and young people’s mental health, she provides straightforward practical strategies that can be used to address emotional upset, loss, and aid recovery.
There has never been a more pressing time to encourage young people and children to engage in methods that allow them to develop a new sense of self-worth and purpose. Whether you’re a professional already working with children, or a student studying for a child-related qualification, this strength-based approach will help you to help children and young people develop a stronger sense of self which can be taken forward and used independently.
Trade Review"This is a warm and wise book, woven through with insights from the author’s 25 years’ experience of working with children and young people and a lifetime of reflection and study. Steeped in an in-depth knowledge of psychology, sociology, anthropology, social work and studies of children and young people’s mental health, it is grounded by vibrant and moving case studies and by the voices and experiences of young people themselves. Sympathy and understanding for young people permeate every page and Rachel Burr has managed to write a book which is academically rigorous and reassuring, helpful and truly valuable. It will appeal to parents, practitioners and to young people themselves."
-- Professor Heather Montgomery * Professor of Anthropology and Childhood, The Open University *
"This theoretically and experientially engaging and grounded book powerfully promotes the rightful status that children and young people must be afforded in contemporary society. Written by Dr Rachel Burr, whose professional values and behaviours demonstrably model the book's message - children and childhood matter -, it is a 'must read' for all concerned with the social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people."
-- Gillian Ruch * Professor of Social Work, University of Sussex *
“It is very rare for a child rights specialist to engage with therapeutic issues in working with children and young people; still more unusual to offer practical, accessible advice on groupwork with children and young people of all ages in a manner that is sensitive to institutional and systemic power dynamics…The detailed examples are especially useful, as well as the critical reflections…Rachel Burr brings together her unique skills and experience as a social worker, child therapist, and also international child rights researcher and anthropologist to provide a culturally and generationally-sensitive and practical guide for innovative support and developmental work with children and young people in a range of settings.”
-- Erica Burma * Professor of Education, author of 'Deconstructing Developmental Psychology' and UKCP registered Group Analyst *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why now?:
Chapter 1: The state of childhood today
Chapter 2: Mental health and wellbeing
Chapter 3: Current approaches to mental health support for children and young people
Chapter 4: A new way of thinking
Chapter 5: Learning from children and young people
Chapter 6: Young children speak out
Chapter 7: It takes more than a mantra
Conclusion: The long and winding road
