Adolescence is about becoming adult. Depending on the teenager’s experiences in infancy and childhood, the teenage years can be a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows or a relatively smooth ride into maturity. The level of maturity of the significant adults in teenagers’ lives – parents and teachers – is critical to how well teenagers manage the many challenges – physical, emotional, sexual, intellectual, behavioural, social, creative and spiritual – that come their way.
Attention to what lies hidden behind teenager’s distressing responses is required for teenagers to begin to make progress towards mature adulthood. Parents and teachers need to understand that when young people are troubled and troubling they are not trying to make life difficult for parents, teachers and others; they are trying to communicate how difficult life is for them.
Themes covered during the seminar will be:
- The wisdom of adolescence
- Teenagers’ search for identity
- Parents’/teachers’ defensive behaviours that threaten teenagers’ wellbeing
- Helping teenagers who are troubled and troubling
- Identifying teenagers who are suffering inner turmoil
- Parental ‘letting go’ and teenagers’ ‘leave-taking’
Dr Tony Humphreys - Biography
Dr. Tony Humphreys is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in private practice and specialist lecturer for health care and teaching professions in University College, Cork and Limerick University. He is Ireland's most influential Psychologist and leading speaker on individual, couple and family relationships, relationships in the workplace, self-esteem and motivation.
He is the author of several best selling books: 'Work and Worth: Take Back Your Life"; 'The Power of ‘Negative' Thinking"; ‘A Different Kind of Teacher’; ‘Self-Esteem: The Key to Your Child’s Education’; ‘The Family, Love It and Leave It’; ‘Myself, My Partner’; ‘A Different Kind of Discipline’; ‘Children Feeling Good’, ‘Examining our Times - for the way we live now’, ‘Whose Life Are You Living?’, The Mature Manager, The Compassionate Intentions of Illness. His books are now in twenty languages and he has become internationally known as a seminar and conference speaker in Europe and South Africa. He has recorded three spoken-word audio- cassettes: ‘Self-Esteem for Adults’, ‘Raising Children’s Self-Esteem’ and ‘Embrace Failure’.
Dr. Humphreys has had several appearances on T.V and has had his own radio programmes plus several interviews. He also speaks on many radio programmes and has regular columns in one of Ireland’s leading newspapers, The Irish Examiner.
People find his talks and seminars thought-provoking, inspirational and challenging. He reaches his audience at a deep level, inspiring change and encouraging a fresh perspective.
Dr Humphreys runs the following courses at UCC: Certificate in Interpersonal Communication, Diploma in Parent Mentoring, Higher Diploma in Relationship Studies and outreach programmes in Dublin - Diploma in Parent Mentoring and Higher Diploma in Relationship Studies.