How often do providers of abuser intervention services hear the clients ask “why wasn’t I taught this when I was younger”? So many times, the positive interventions of effective communication, recognition of emotions/feelings, and healthy patterns of interaction aren’t taught to the offender until much destruction and damage has been inflicted on others and themselves. Promoting healthy relationships and reducing relationship abuse during adolescence is an important component to breaking the inter-generational cycle of abuse. When working with adolescents however, it requires awareness of their developmental stages and being able to appeal to their learning style in order to be engaging and impact changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviors for long-term benefit. This workshop will review the research and brain science on how to engage effectively with adolescents and enhance relational connectedness through inquiry-based learning strategies. Using examples from “A New Path Forward-Developing Healthy Relationships for Life” curriculum, participants will learn how to modify healthy relationships materials for higher engagement and meaningful discussions among adolescent group members.

This was originally recorded at the 29th Annual IVAT San Diego Summit.