The Teen Interpreter A Guide to the Challenges and Joys of Raising Adolescents

One of BookPage's 6 best parenting books of 2022.

The Teen Interpreter is a generous roadmap for enjoying the most challenging, and rewarding, parenting years.

Once children hit adolescence, it seems as if overnight ÒI love youÓ becomes Òleave me alone,Ó and any question from a parent can be dismissed with one word: Òfine.Ó But while they may not show it, teenagers rely on their parentsÕ curiosity, delight, and connection to guide them through this period of exuberant growth as they navigate complex changes to their bodies, their thought processes, their social world, and their self-image.

In The Teen Interpreter, psychologist Terri Apter looks into teensÕ minds_minds that are experiencing powerful new emotions and awareness of the world around them_to show how parents can revitalize their relationship with their children. She illuminates the rapid neurological developments of a teenÕs brain, along with their new, complex emotions, and offers strategies for disciplining unsafe actions constructively and empathetically. Apter includes up-to-the moment case studies that shed light on the anxieties and vulnerabilities that todayÕs teens face, and she thoughtfully explores the positives and pitfalls of social media.

With perceptive conversation exercises that synthesize research from more than thirty years in the field, Apter illustrates how teens signal their changing needs and identities_and how parents can interpret these signals and see the world through their teensÕ eyes. The Teen Interpreter is a generous roadmap for enjoying the most challenging, and rewarding, parenting years.