Topic:Â I still love you: Nine things troubled kids need from their parents, caregivers and schools – Professor Michael Ungar
Resources: You can download Michael’s slides.
Session Summary: How can we show children we love them even when they push us away? How do we make children more resilient when they are angry, self-harming, anxious, abusive or delinquent? In this story-filled presentation, Dr. Michael Ungar provides nine practical strategies parents, caregivers and educators need to help young people of all ages heal, no matter a child’s emotional, psychological or behavioural problems. Based on material from his new book, I Still Love You, his clinical practice and his research around the world, Michael will share what families and schools have taught him about the power of unconditional love. Be prepared for an inspiring presentation. Michael’s words will help you understand the importance of the everyday heroics that change children’s lives, even when children’s parents, caregivers and educators are frustrated and unsure what to do next.
Biography: Dr. Michael Ungar wears many professional hats. He is equally well known as the author of books for parents and caregivers as he is for his world-renowned research on the topic of resilience. As a writer he has adapted ideas from his research and clinical practice into best-selling works like Too Safe For Their Own Good: How Risk and Responsibility Help Teens Thrive, and his most recent release, I Still Love You: Nine Things Troubled Kids Need from Their Parents. In total, he has published 14 books, 125 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and maintains a blog on Psychology Today’s website. In another of his many roles, he is the founder and co-director of the Resilience Research Centre that coordinates millions of dollars in research in more than a dozen countries. That work has inspired many of Michael’s books and articles for mental health professionals and researchers, including Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs: 20 Skills to Build Resilience, and The Social Ecology of Resilience.
When not on the road and back at his home in Halifax, Canada, he is the Killam Professor of Social Work at Dalhousie University, Scientific Director of the Children and Youth in Challenging Contexts Network, and a family therapist who works with local services for homeless and at-risk young people. In 2012 Michael was the recipient of the Canadian Association of Social Workers National Distinguished Service Award.
Michael’s work has inspired a generation of professionals and researchers to broaden their understanding of how and why young people do well in different cultures and contexts. Furthermore, he has shown through his research, writing, and clinical practice, that resilience is something that can be nurtured and sustained among even the most disadvantaged young people, their families, and their communities.
Who might be most interested:Â Academics, practitioners, researchers, students, parents, carers, community workers, volunteers, public sector workers, young people and service users.
Key Reading: Any of Michael Ungar’s books – there are piles of them. To view a sample of Mike’s work, please go to his website (external link).
This session took place on Thursday 29 January 2015.
The Resilience Forum is for ANYBODY (with a pulse!) involved with or interested in resilience research!
