Monday 7 July 2008 (pm)
Fee: £75
Venue: Tavistock Centre
Adolescence is a difficult phase of development for most people – matters of identity, a changing body, upheavals in relationships with parents, siblings, teachers and peers all have to be struggled with. The professionals in contact with such young people also find themselves facing difficult challenges in trying to offer help in a way which is acceptable. Adolescents are notoriously sensitive to feeling intruded upon, humiliated, cornered in a power struggle, misunderstood, unloved and unlovable in relation to adults provoked or concerned by their worrying behaviour. The tools for trying to engage with such young people need to be very particular and different from those required in work with either children or adults. For example, there needs to be a mixture of firmness with flexibility, an ability to contain extreme anxiety in the face of unpredictable, highly risky behaviour and to bear not knowing what is going to happen next.
Staff working in the Tavistock Clinic’s Adolescent Department have developed a variety of models for interventions with young people whose alarming
behaviour or state of mind draws attention to their plight but who may be very uncertain or frightened about seeking help and they have also looked at applying these innovative ideas to working with minority ethnic young people.
This is the first of a new series of half-day conferences which will present aspects of all these models for creative discussion with professionals from a health, social care, probation, YOT or education background who are working with adolescents and wish to increase their range of skills.
Download flier and application form
Further information:
Vicky Harrison
Tel: 020 8938 2548
Fax: 020 7447 3837
events@tavi-port.org
