Overcoming Suicidal Thoughts for Teens - (Instant Help Solutions) by Jeremy W Pettit & Ryan M Hill (Paperback)

About the Book

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teens in the US, and the need for effective prevention has never been greater. Written by two adolescent suicide experts, this gentle and effective guide will help teens overcome suicidal thoughts by reducing emotional pain, increasing hope, and building meaningful connections. Readers will learn specific skills grounded in evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), including how to establish safety plans, identify and manage intense emotions, limit stress, find purpose, and ultimately take control of their suicidal thoughts to move forward into a more optimistic and hopeful future.

Book Synopsis

If you or someone you love is dealing with a crisis right now, please call 1-800-273-8255 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

This gentle and effective guide can help you find support and hope.

If you're a teen who is having thoughts of suicide, the first thing to know is that you are not alone. Many teens experience suicidal thoughts, and there is help for you. Don't give up: change is possible, and it's worth it--you are worth it.

Written by two mental health experts, Overcoming Suicidal Thoughts for Teens is here to help you reduce emotional pain, increase hope, and build meaningful connections in your life. Grounded in evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and filled with proven-effective activities and skills, this guide will help you:

• Identify your triggers and the type of support you need
• Create a safety plan for when things feel hopeless
• Manage intense feelings, thoughts, and stress
• Build and strengthen relationships
• Boost positive feelings
• Make healthy lifestyle changes and set goals

Although it may be hard to imagine now, the strategies in this book can help you overcome suicidal thoughts, find meaning and purpose, and move forward into a more hopeful future. A change for the better is on the way.

Review Quotes

"A compact but comprehensive volume highlighting ways to navigate suicidal ideation in teenagers and help them care for their mental health. From providing readers with a road map on how to use the book to helping teens create a safety plan and identify warning signs, this resource for navigating suicidal ideation in teens has it covered. This book is a great way for teens and their caregivers to better understand how they can respond to suicidal thoughts and promote overall well-being. By clearly outlining the signs of when to seek external help, explaining what kind of help to seek depending on the circumstances, and showing how not all negative thoughts have to be scary, Pettit and Hill have created a helpful interactive resource that can be used independently by teens or with the support of an adult professional. By outlining clear, actionable steps and ways to identify various levels of severity, this book helps remove some of the fear around seeking help in difficult situations. The examples provided include a broad range of situations, including unhealthy friendships, divorced parents, difficulties with romantic partners, and bullying. Stories are used to illustrate how teens can use the tools provided in this book and how each person might do so a little differently. The inviting layout includes chunks of texts broken up with questions, charts, and bullet points. An accessible, empowering, informative guide for teens and their caregivers."
--Kirkus Reviews-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"Overcoming Suicidal Thoughts for Teens is a fantastic resource. It offers practical, specific, down-to-earth skills in a very clear framework with action steps for all levels of suicidal thinking. It is written in an approachable and matter-of-fact style, and uses easy-to-understand metaphors that help normalize the experience of having thoughts of suicide that so many teens experience."
--Jennifer Battle, MSW, director of Access at The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD; and adjunct faculty at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work--Jennifer Battle, MSW

"Overcoming Suicidal Thoughts For Teens is an approachable, practical, and compassionate guide filled with science-based strategies from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that can help teens continue living. Jeremy Pettit and Ryan Hill expertly coach readers through coping with challenges, increasing hope and connection, and living a life of purpose and meaning. This book is a fantastic resource not only for teens, but also for their parents and mental health professionals."
--Kelly L. Green, PhD, psychologist and senior research investigator at the Center for the Prevention of Suicide at the University of Pennsylvania--Kelly L. Green, PhD

"Given the current mental health crisis among youth in the US, Overcoming Suicidal Thoughts for Teens is a timely and much-needed resource. Pettit and Hill provide a variety of practical skills and techniques that are supported by science yet discussed in a manner that young people will understand and find useful. Grounded in research, clinical work, and lived experience, this book will help even the most distressed teenagers overcome their suicidal thoughts and build a life of purpose."
--Dorian A. Lamis, PhD, ABPP, clinical psychologist, and associate professor at the Emory University School of Medicine--Dorian A. Lamis, PhD, ABPP

"Jeremy Pettit and Ryan Hill created a very useful text for youth, and therapists working with adolescents. The book uses evidence-based principles and practices to provide the reader with accessible tools for youth in crisis, or who want to learn healthy coping skills. Overcoming Suicidal Thoughts for Teens is an absolute must-add to any set of training resources for clinicians!"
--Robert Cramer, PhD, associate professor of public health sciences, and Irwin Belk Distinguished Scholar in Health Research at UNC Charlotte--Robert Cramer, PhD

"Therapists working with suicidal teens will find the Pettit and Hill book valuable in both guiding their treatment and as a self-help manual for the teens they are treating. Four different case vignettes run throughout the book, providing opportunities for teens to see situations that they themselves may have encountered in a new light. Coping behaviors, and other techniques, employed by the four teens will be useful for any reader."
--Anthony Spirito, PhD, ABPP, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, who has conducted treatment research with suicidal teens for over twenty-five years--Anthony Spirito, PhD, ABPP

"This book is an excellent, much-needed resource for teenagers who experience suicidal thoughts. Written in a way that is clear, engaging, accessible, and nonjudgmental, teens can use this on their own or as a companion to therapy to help them address thoughts, feelings, and stressors that might lead them to think about suicide; improve their relationships; and remind them of their reasons for living."
--Regina Miranda, PhD, professor of psychology at Hunter College and The Graduate Center at CUNY, director of the Youth Suicide Research Consortium, and coeditor of Handbook of Youth Suicide Prevention--Regina Miranda, PhD

"This groundbreaking and timely work will help countless teenagers who are quietly dealing with internalized feelings of desperation and hopelessness around seemingly insurmountable pressures in their lives. It is viewed as a much-needed resource for teenagers to destigmatize the topic of self-harm during a time of unparalleled social and political unrest, and pressures associated with social media, the hypercompetitive world of college entrance examinations achievement and advancement, and prolonged pandemic-related angst and disruption."
--Gary X. Lancelotta, PhD, ABPP, board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology; and director of Child Psychology Associates, P.A. in Miami, FL--Gary X. Lancelotta, PhD, ABPP

About the Author

Jeremy W. Pettit, PhD, is professor of psychology and psychiatry at Florida International University. A licensed psychologist, his clinical research program focuses on the etiology and treatment of anxiety, depression, and suicidal behaviors. He has published more than 150 scholarly works on these topics and received multiple awards for his work, including the Edwin Shneidman Award from the American Association of Suicidology (AAS), and the Self-Help Book of Merit Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Ryan M. Hill, PhD, is a psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is a member of the AAS, and has published more than sixty scholarly works on suicide prevention and child and adolescent mental health.