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An unflinching exploration of how interference, intervention, and ideology are harming youth mental health and development
The Book
Anxiety, depression, self-harm, substance use disorders, and teen suicide – despite having more counselors, educators, experts, and medications than ever before, today’s young people are suffering from a mental health epidemic. Exploring a range of factors contributing to this wicked problem – from social media, overprotection, and environmental toxins to the erosion of connection – Kids These Days clearly identifies what works for raising happy and healthy youth, and what does not.
This essential guide is an unflinching examination of the failings of the mental health industry and a call to action for adults to stand up against interference, harmful interventions, and ideologies negatively impacting our children. Therapists, parents, and researchers Will Dobud and Nevin Harper:
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Engage leading voices in adolescent well-being—mental health professionals, scientists, doctors, and parenting gurus—to discover why most attempts to fix teenagers fail
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Distill the last twenty years of research and clinical practice to identify the causes and potential cures for the growing youth mental health crisis
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Show how social connection, mastery, gratitude, and independence promote emotional and psychological resilience in the next generation.
It’s time to stop labeling youth and recognize them as the heroes of their own stories. Whether a parent, guardian, therapist, educator, or other role model, we need to build trust and foster relationships while helping the young people in our lives negotiate the adventure of adolescence. Our kids are not broken. What really needs to change is the adults these days.
the authors
Will Dobud
Will Dobud, PhD, MSW, is a social work clinician and researcher working on innovative treatment programs integrating outdoor therapeutic experiences and an advocate for youth impacted by America’s troubled teen industry. He is co-author of Solution-Focused Practice in Outdoor Therapy and Outdoor Therapies. Will is from the Washington, DC, area.
Nevin Harper
Nevin Harper, PhD, is a Professor in the Faculty of Health at the University of Victoria and a Registered Clinical Counsellor with over 30 years of experience leading groups and individuals through transformative outdoor experiences. He is co-author of Nature-Based Therapy and Outdoor Therapies. Nevin lives on Vancouver Island, Canada.
The Research
Kids These Days is organized by three types of harms needing to be addressed to promote healthy positive child and youth development: Interference, Intervention, and Ideology.
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Part I: Interference explores increased loneliness, loss of connection, digital interference, and the impact of environmental toxins on youth development. Part II: Intervention takes a critical look at the labeling of mental disorders, psychotherapy, the overprescription of psychiatric medications, and universal school-based programs teaching social emotional learning. Part III: Ideology shows how the dogma of safety led to an extinction of experience and how this impacts youth.
We aim to show how adults can, at first, at least notice these shockingly obvious concerns, and more importantly, to be courageous in addressing them. Not blaming kids these days, but rather listening, learning, and leading.
Kids These Days is about stepping up and assuming responsibility, especially when others may be struggling to do so. It’s about becoming a stabilizing force and setting an example. It’s doing or saying what others know is needed but are possibly unwilling and unprepared to. This book is about being the “adult in the room” – an idiom used figuratively to encourage us to demonstrate maturity, responsibility, and leadership in the face of unhelpful and uncooperative systems or where others are acting irresponsibly, unethically, or immaturely.
The Experts
"Don't trust the experts." That's what Dr. Gordon Neufeld told Will and Nevin. The problem? They spoke to the experts. They are positive deviants and rebels in their own right! Gordon was right. Get to know the main characters of Kids These Days.
Click the Learn More button to access more information and video content associated with each of these experts.
Dr. Martin Brokenleg
Dr. Martin Brokenleg is co-author of the book Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future and co-developer of the Circle of Courage model and provides training worldwide for individuals who work with youth at risk. Dr. Brokenleg has consulted and led training programs throughout North America, New Zealand, Europe, Australia, and South Africa.
He is the father of three children and an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
Dr. Mari Swingle
Dr. Mari Swingle is a practicing therapist, researcher, and author who has been working in the fields of mental health and education for over 25 years. Dr. Swingle is a known expert on the effects of i-technology (screen-based devices), and the effects of screen-based technology on our brains and behavior. Her mission is fostering health, happiness, and informed choice in the digital age. Dr. Mari speaks regularly on the topic of technology, societal shifts, and mental health. She is the author of i-Minds 2.0 (Second Edition): How and Why Constant Connectivity is Rewiring Our Brains and What to Do About it.
Dr. Bruce Lanphear
Dr. Bruce Lanphear is a Clinician Scientist and Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia. His primary goal is to help quantify and ultimately prevent disease and disability – like asthma, learning problems and ADHD – due to exposures to environmental contaminants and pollutants. Over the past decade, Dr. Lanphear has become increasingly vexed by our inability to control the “pandemic of consumption” – the largely preventable, worldwide epidemic of chronic disease and disability due to industrial pollutants, environmental contaminants and excess consumption.
Dr. Simon Davidson
Dr. Simon Davidson is a psychiatrist with a special interest in working with children, youth, emerging adults and their families. He is the Co-Founder of Youth Net/Réseau Ado, a more than 20 year old innovative service delivery model empowering youth in regard to mental health promotion, mental illness prevention and early intervention. He is a Past President of the Canadian Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (CACAP), was Chief of Staff at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and past Chair of the Child and Youth Advisory Committee of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Dr. Gordon Neufeld
Dr. Gordon Neufeld is a developmental psychologist who consults with parents and professionals regarding children and their problems. A foremost authority on child development, Dr. Neufeld continues to be an international speaker, a best-selling author (Hold On to Your Kids - co-authored with Dr. Gabor Maté) and a leading interpreter of the developmental paradigm.He brings to us his unique synthesis of the developmental literature and his exceptional ability to make children understandable. He has a widespread reputation for being able to make sense of difficult and complex problems and for opening doors for change. His style is dynamic, his approach is refreshing and his effect is to affirm intuition.
Dr. Sue Johnson
Dr. Sue Johnson researched how relationships can be repaired, how the bonds of love work, and how people change in psychotherapy. Dr. Johnson received many awards for her research and contributions to the psychotherapy field and was named “Psychologist of the Year” in 2016 by Division 43 of the American Psychological Association. She was recognized by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Couple and Family Therapy. Sue also received the Order of Canada for her overall body of work and positive impact on psychotherapy – all over the world.
Dr. Scott D. Miller
Scott D. Miller, Ph.D. is the founder of the International Center for Clinical Excellence, an international consortium of clinicians, researchers, and educators dedicated to promoting excellence in behavioral health services. Dr. Miller conducts workshops and training internationally, helping hundreds of agencies and organizations, both public and private, to achieve superior results. Scott is the author of numerous articles and books.
Dr. Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter
Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter is a Professor at Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education in Trondheim, Norway. Her research focuses on children’s risky play and well-being. She believes children, all over the world, have the right to free play and that all childhood education should be based on play as a means for development, learning and well-being. Ellen maintains a particular interest in children’s need for thrilling and risky play in a time when the western society in increasingly becoming even more safety focused.
Dr. Michael Ungar
Michael Ungar, Ph.D. is the founder and Director of the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience. In 2022, Dr. Ungar was ranked the number one Social Work scholar in the world in recognition of his ground-breaking work as a family therapist and resilience researcher. That work has influenced the way human development and organizational processes are understood and studied globally, with much of Dr. Ungar’s clinical work and scholarship focused on the resilience of marginalized children and families, and adult populations experiencing mental health challenges at home and in the workplace. In addition to providing consultation to international NGOs like the Red Cross and Save the Children, government agencies in more than a dozen low, middle, and high income countries, and educational institutions at all levels of study, Dr. Ungar’s research has also influenced the HR and corporate social responsibility initiatives of Fortune 500 companies like Unilever, DHL and Cigna.
Professor Ryan Rhodes
Ryan E. Rhodes, PhD is a Professor in the School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, cross-appointed in the Department of Psychology, and Director of the Behavioral Medicine Laboratory at the University of Victoria, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Rhodes is also one of the world experts on the intention-behavior gap, made popular by New Year's resolutions that people struggle to enact every year. He has held over 100 grants for this research and he has contributed over 500 publications, 35 book chapters and three books. Dr. Rhodes is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Society of Behavioral Medicine, Academy of Behavioral Medicine, American Psychological Association, and a College Member of the Royal Society of Canada. He is also the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Psychology and Health, and Associate Editor of Exercise and Sports Sciences Reviews.'
Resources
While writing this book, we compiled a trail of evidence to do our best as we move forward. You can download our references below to explore the sources informing our discussion. After all, one cannot write a book such as this without showing our receipts for the science. Additionally, feel free to click around this website to learn more about the experts we met with and their impactful careers.
Many of the questions we raise do not condense. They generate more unscripted questions. We encourage the curious reader to make their own decisions about the value of our exploration and its pragmatic meaning for yourself. In the end, our goal was to understand why so many young people are hurting, starved for connection, and lacking the autonomy to adventurously explore adolescence.