Finding My Way and I’m Not Alone are the first of their kind focusing on teenagers living with a parent who has a mental illness or who has experienced trauma. These books provide more than just the facts by encouraging readers to reflect on their experiences through interactive writing exercises.
The clinical and educational expertise of the mother/daughter author team brings forward well-grounded, accessible books that support, educate, and empower the family members whose needs are so often overlooked.
These unique, timely books are invaluable resources for all professionals working with teens and families because:
1. Mental illness and trauma are common…and many children’s lives are touched:
- Serious mental illness affects 1 in 4 American families.
- Approximately 1 in 8 American families has a parent dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and many more families struggle with other reactions to trauma.
- Over half of all people with a mental illness or PTSD have children.
2. When a family member has a mental illness or has experienced trauma, everyone in the family is affected:
- Everyday life in these families can be confusing and frightening. Nothing feels the same as it was before the trauma or onset of the illness. Many youth live every day with uncertainty, embarrassment, anger, shame, sadness, guilt, and fear. The children ask:
- What is this all about?
- Why is it happening to me?
- How do I survive amid this confusion?
- What do I tell my friends?
- How can I make my parent better?
- Youth growing up with parents dealing with emotional problems are at greater risk of having behavioral or emotional problems themselves.
3. Seeds of Hope Books™ provides much-needed hope for families:
- These youth and their families need HOPE! Our books strive to reassure the teenager and to stimulate helpful discussions. As the reader uses these books, he/she learns that:
- I am not alone.
- My parent can get better.
- Helpful treatments are available for my parent and my family.
- I can help my parent in specific ways.
- I have people who want to support me.
- I can make it through the tough times.
- Despite the pain involved in dealing with mental illness or trauma, going through difficulties can bring families closer. The family unit can actually become stronger by facing the challenges together. Both parents and children may discover strengths, resilience, and courage in themselves and in each other that never would have surfaced otherwise. Families can grow by communicating openly and supporting one another – so that they can navigate future difficulties more effectively.
- Given the heightened risk for these youth developing their own problems, our books can serve as prevention and early intervention for at-risk youth.
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Who Will Benefit from Seeds of Hope Books™?
Our books are invaluable for teens, parents, and relatives dealing with emotional problems in the family, as well as those professionals and organizations supporting them, including:
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Our books can serve as a curriculum for mental health services (individual, group, or family therapy), support groups, and educational series in the following settings:
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