Adolescents at Risk

“This is a remarkable volume that speaks to new ways to deliver services to hard-to-reach youth and families. The authors' innovative community-based approach to prevention and treatment has sound theoretical and empirical support, which will encourage practitioners to adopt it. Students who want to become true catalysts of change will find the stories and examples refreshing and invigorating.”

—Leonard A. Jason, PhD, Department of Psychology, DePaul University


“Sure to become a classic, this landmark book offers readable, comprehensive guidelines for dealing with the complex problems of youth at risk and their families. The book highlights key dimensions—from school to health care to employment and life cycle stresses—demonstrating the pernicious impact of racism and societal scapegoating and offering helpful suggestions for intervention. Both authors bring long experience to this difficult subject, addressing issues of drugs and alcohol, domestic violence, teen pregnancy, gang involvement, and child abuse. Every therapy student should have this book as a key reference. It makes dramatically clear the value of coordinating therapy and developing coalitions with school professionals, health care providers, and agency personnel.”

—Monica McGoldrick, LCSW, PhD (h.c.), Director, Multicultural Family Institute, Highland Park, New Jersey


“Boyd-Franklin and Bry have produced a book that could not be more timely and relevant to mental health professionals in community and educational settings. Scholarly and practical, this work will have an impact on treatment of adolescents for decades to come. Among the book's outstanding features are considerations of cultural, racial, and socioeconomic factors and multigenerational issues in clinical practice. Evidence-based treatment needs to be moved into a multisystems framework; the authors accomplish this critical goal by offering relevant insights and blueprints. The book also offers cogent agendas for mental health training and supervision and includes powerful case examples. I strongly recommend this important contribution to seasoned practitioners as well as students preparing for a career in mental health services.”

—Thomas R. Kratochwill, PhD, School Psychology Program (Emeritus), University of Wisconsin–Madison


“Essential reading for anyone working with at-risk adolescents and their families. This book describes the experiences of at-risk youth and their families—and of the professionals seeking to join and collaborate with them—in a way that is clinically rich, empirically supported, hopeful, and immensely helpful. Boyd-Franklin and Bry translate theory and research into 'real-world' practice, offering concrete, practical instructions and specific interventions. Their integration of family and developmental theory into a strengths-focused, collaborative, multisystems approach brings an updated framework to the field. The book's description of what is needed for successful intervention with at-risk young people and their families certainly mirrors my 20+ years of clinical experience with this population. It is an effective, highly readable training text for the next generation of clinicians. I plan to use this book as a core text in my graduate-level family counseling courses.”

—Penny Haney, PhD, Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, Lynch School of Education, Boston College


“This text gives the graduate student or practitioner greater knowledge and skills to work with at-risk youth and their families. It provides a framework for understanding the multigenerational patterns and crises associated with teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, juvenile delinquency, physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence, and gang involvement. Covering home-based family therapy as well as interventions in other systems, the text describes multiple strategies for supporting these clients.”

—Julie Anne Laser-Maira, PhD, MSW, LCSW, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver