Violent behavior. Eating disorders. Drug use and drinking. Self-mutilation. These are just some of the troubling issues arising with increased frequency among teens. As they negotiate adolescence, our children become harder to reach--and are more at risk. In order to help them, we need to understand what is really behind their problems. The answer lies in the very nature of adolescence: the quest for identity. "Who am I?" is the central question of growing up, and The Identity Trap gets to the heart of why our teens so easily fall prey to their own worst impulses and to the destructive habits of their peers. Dr. Joseph Nowinski, a psychologist who has worked with troubled teens for more than two decades, demonstrates that traditional discipline (i.e., reward and punishment) will have no lasting effect if the root causes of a teen's problems are left unchecked. This book offers solutions for opening the lines of communication and helping children not only survive the seemingly universal perils of growing up, but also thrive throughout adolescence and into adulthood.
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