Positive Ways of Working with Challenging Teens through understanding the adolescent within us

Two-day live event in London

Teenagers are often misunderstood and labelled as ‘monsters’. But behind their challenging behaviours lie histories of pain and survival.

These young people are not soulless savages - they are emotionally wounded children who have learned to expect pain from relationships. Their so-called 'monstrous’ behaviour is a survival strategy, masking deep shame and hurt. To support them effectively, adults must be willing to look beyond the surface and explore the emotional abyss where these wounds reside.

So, this training day invites participants on a journey into the inner world of emotionally scarred teens. It will empower you to befriend their raw energy and find the beauty within the beast. You’ll learn how to understand and connect with hard-to-reach teenagers, using tools such as pop culture and the superhero myth to access their complex internal narratives.

More than anything, the training encourages self-reflection. It is not just about managing challenging behaviour but about recognising and working through our own hidden fears and emotional triggers. As Bernstein (2001) suggests, "the true challenge lies not in the adolescent's outward defiance, but in how we confront and manage our internal responses.”

Key Benefits from attending

Participants will learn and explore:

• The role of pop culture in understanding adolescent psychology
• Techniques for decoding non-verbal communication
• Ways to bypass defensive behaviours and access deeper emotions
• How to balance vulnerability with emotional strength
• How to help them give voice to their unspoken hurt and re-author their painful life experiences into a new narrative that is no longer about shame and hurt, but about self-compassion, hope, and triumph.