Review of what’s been covered

This week we’ve looked at the ways in which the activities we participate in have a big influence on how we think and feel, and how changing our behaviour can improve mood. We looked at the idea of positive reinforcement, and how values can help people identify the activities that are personally reinforcing for them. We’ve also reviewed how encouragement can be a potent, positive reinforcer for teenagers, and the various ways a parent or professional might offer this.

Next week we’ll be looking at the role that thoughts (‘cognitions’) play in maintaining depression in young people, how parents and professionals working with teenagers can help challenge some of this negative thinking and the biases that can occur.

Thank you for your contributions this week and we look forward to seeing you in Week 4.

Resources

See below for a list of relevant resources used in this Week. We’ll provide a comprehensive list of all resources and further reading which can be downloaded at the end of the course.

Articles

• Action Creates Emotion. Psychology Today. 2010.
• You Probably Use Your Smartphone Way More Than You Think. HuffPost UK. 2015.
• How to make small changes that last. Psychologies. 2014.
• Parent and teenager conflict. The Guardian. 2009.
• The Best Way to Fight With a Teenager.The New York Times. 2016.

Books

• Am I Depressed And What Can I Do About It? by Reynolds, S. & Parkinson, M. (London: Robinson, 2015). A CBT self-help guide for teenagers experiencing low mood and depression.
• Teenage Depression: A CBT Guide For Parents by Parkinson, M. & Reynolds, S. (London: Robinson, 2015). Help your child beat their low mood. An indispensable guide for parents of a depressed teenager.

Research

• Pass, L., Lejuez, C. W., & Reynolds, S. (2017). Brief Behavioural Activation (Brief BA) for Adolescent Depression: A Pilot Study. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 1-13

Websites

• NetMums How do you spend quality time with teenagers without spending money thread.