Navigating Reaching Teens as an Individual Learner

Reaching Teens can be navigated from a variety of starting points. The electronic version, which comes with a book purchase, allows you to navigate with a click. If your agency is licensed, you have 24 hour a day access electronically.

• Reaching teens is now AI enabled. This allows you to ask any question about strength-based strategies to reach young people in a myriad of scenarios. The AI navigator only draws information from the toolkit giving you confidence it will not offer guidance that can undermine youth. This makes the Reaching Teens AI experience different from that offered by a search engine that may draw from materials that are not curated.
• You may choose to follow the flow the textbook lays out for you. It moves from a theoretical background in positive youth development and resilience-based approaches to strategies that engage youth in trustworthy relationships. From there, it teaches specific strategies to promote positive behaviors, engage and inform parents, and address specific emotional or behavioral concerns. Then, it covers how to apply these lessons to specific populations. Finally, it reminds us that self-care is critical for our well-being and professional longevity, and therefore, on our ultimate impact on youth.
• Alternatively, you may choose to approach a specific topic (e.g. perfectionism, substance use, violence, depression, or serving youth experiencing homelessness) and navigate from there to the supportive background materials and suggested strategies.
• You can choose to explore a specific behavioral strategy (e.g. motivational interviewing) and navigate from there to how to apply it to different behaviors (e.g. substance use, eating disorders).
• In most chapters there are multiple films to choose from to offer a deeper dive into the information or to witness demonstrations. The films range from those that take a couple of minutes to emphasize or illustrate a point to those that offer a lengthy comprehensive lesson. No one is expected to watch all the films. They are titled with descriptive, rather than “catchy,” titles to help you choose between them. Consider downloading a film viewer that allows you to view the videos at double speed. You may find that most information can still be absorbed, and you’ll save time.
• Many chapters also offer live links to suggested webpages.
• Many chapters also offer downloadable handouts to reinforce messages with teens or their parents, or to serve as posted reminders in your practice setting.
• After completion of each chapter, you’ll be able to answer a few questions and earn your continuing education credits from a national professional organization if you are a health professional, counselor, or social worker.