Overview

This practical self-help guide introduces ""Psychological Fitness"" – a powerful combination of mental resilience and emotional well-being that can transform how your child navigates life's challenges. It provides brain training methods that parents and teachers can adopt and use to foster the skills and knowledge in children and young people, so they can navigate and live in this uncertain and changing world. This book shares simple, proven techniques developed over two decades of successful programs with children and young people. You'll find easy-to-implement tools that help children express their worries and build their own solutions, alongside effective brain training methods that promote both mental and physical health. This guide empowers you to help your child embrace their unique identity and develop crucial life skills. Through practical exercises, your child will build a foundation of resilient thinking, emotional awareness, optimism, and empathy—essential abilities that support their wellbeing now and throughout adulthood. Whether you're a parent or work with children professionally, this straightforward guide offers life-changing opportunities to support the young people in your care. The refreshingly simple techniques can be implemented right away, creating lasting positive impacts on mental and emotional health.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lucy Bailey ,  Voula Tsoflias
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.453kg
ISBN:  

9781032948447

ISBN 10:   1032948442
Pages:   150
Publication Date:   03 November 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Acknowledgements. 5 Introduction. 6 The importance of parents. 6 Imagine this. 7 What is psychological fitness?. 7 Learning the skills. 8 Why psychological fitness is needed now more than ever 11 Bringing the expertise to life in the real world. 11 Chapter 1: Being a Child is Different Now: teaching your teenagers well 14 Human connection matters. 15 The power of sleep. 16 The information technology revolution. 17 Unhappy teenagers. 21 Summary. 23 Chapter 2: Our Amazing Brains. 24 The Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) 24 The Limbic System.. 25 Happy healthy teenagers. 26 Ages and stages for building psychological fitness. 26 Babyhood. 27 Children. 27 Adolescence. 28 Young Adults. 28 Neurodiversity. 29 Summary. 30 Activities for teenagers. 30 Chapter 3: The Art of Self-Regulation: using our emotions strategically. 33 Theories of emotions. 33 The happiness pie. 35 The role of positive emotions. 36 Taking action: strategies for harnessing positive emotions. 38 The energy and emotions grid. 40 Something for you to try. 46 Practicing the strategies. 47 Imagine this. 48 Summary. 50 Activities for teenagers. 51 Chapter 4: Slow And Steady: the link between thoughts, feelings and behaviour. 58 Something to try. 59 The ABC of mental resilience. 60 Something to try. 62 Imagine this. 65 ABC Watch outs. 67 Paying attention to our beliefs. 68 Imagine this. 69 Don’t sweat the small stuff, or should we?. 70 Summary. 71 Activities for teenagers. 72 Chapter 5: Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Reframing with optimism.. 75 Me habit 76 Them habit 77 Always habit 77 Patterns of thinking. 78 Imagine this. 78 The process for reframing. 80 Listening with empathy. 81 Summary. 81 Activities for teenagers. 81 Chapter 6: Why Did I React That Way? Identifying what matters most 85 Something to try. 85 Big sticky beliefs. 86 Understanding what really matters to me. 87 Imagine this. 87 Ask what, not why. 89 What Carla did next 90 Imagine this. 92 Summary. 93 Activities for teenagers. 94 Chapter 7: Where the super powers begin. 95 The difference between self-efficacy and self esteem.. 95 The difference between empathy and sympathy. 97 The difference between general praise and process praise. 99 Imagine this. 101 The difference between optimism and pessimism.. 101 Keeping lines of communication open. 102 Communication Technique. 105 Imagine this. 106 Summary. 107 Communication activity for teenagers. 107 Chapter 8: The Sky is Falling In: when our thinking snowballs. 110 What is catastrophic thinking?. 111 Imagine this. 111 Why does this happen?. 112 What can we do about it?. 112 Back to Ella. 114 Something to try. 117 Summary. 118 Activities for teenagers. 118 Chapter 9: One Step Beyond: The power of moving on. 125 Confirmation bias. 125 Imagine this. 126 Pause for reflection. 127 What’s the goal?. 127 Something to try. 128 Imagine this. 129 Summary. 131 Activities for teenagers. 132 Chapter 10: Making it Real: Resilience in action. 134 Practise, fast and slow.. 134 Where learning takes place. 135 Something to try. 136 Using process praise to encourage growth. 136 Shortcut skills that help us to get through. 137 Imagine This. 138 Something to try. 141 Nurturing the optimistic muscle. 142 Reasons not to teach short cuts to teenagers. 143 Summary. 143 Chapter 11: You Are One of a Kind: using unique strengths to thrive. 145 Lucy’s early career 146 Things I love about people. 147 Something to think about 149 Imagine this. 150 Something to try. 152 Activity for the whole family. 153 Summary. 153 Chapter 12: A Messy Kind of Magic: achieving mastery of the skills. 155 Remember this?. 155 The Spiral Effect 158 Imagine this. 159 Spot the difference: the behaviours of psychological fitness. 162 Summary. 164 Chapter 13: Reflections on the Future of Parenting. 166 Balancing the analogue and digital worlds. 166 Education is better than prevention. 166 Mastering the skills. 167 Books for children. 167 Suggested reading for adults. 168

Reviews

""Raise Resilience is more than a parenting manual—it’s a roadmap for cultivating emotionally intelligent, self-aware, and psychologically strong young people. Its strength lies in combining evidence-based practice with compassion, realness, and an accessible tone. The authors are honest about the messiness of parenting, and their vulnerability and warmth make the book especially powerful for parents navigating uncertain waters."" Dr Grace Lordan, Professor in Behavioural Science, London School of Economics ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ""In an era where young people are overwhelmed by constant noise, disconnection, and pressure, this book is a lifeline. Raise Resilience is not only a roadmap for parents but a powerful invitation to help teenagers reclaim their confidence, clarity, and purpose. With wisdom rooted in science and stories that feel real, Lucy Bailey and Voula Tsoflias offer more than just advice—they offer tools to transform families and equip the next generation to thrive. Every parent, educator, and youth leader should read this."" — Karen Guggenheim, Founder & CEO, World Happiness Summit® (WOHASU®); Author of Cultivating Happiness: Overcome Trauma and Positively Transform your Life ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This should be required reading for every parent. Combining an introduction to the brain, with good parenting, and the impact of social media, it guides parents to build resilience in their teenagers. It stands out for the wisdom of the authors and the wide range of advice. I cannot recommend it too highly. Dr John Coleman OBE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This book is both a resource and a companion—for young adults, parents, and grandparents alike. It offers meaningful insights and food for thought for every stage of life. Eva Schwarz, Mother, Grandmother, Harvard ALI Fellow 2023, Founder of Amity: A Preventive Loneliness Project ""Raise Resilience is more than a parenting manual—it’s a roadmap for cultivating emotionally intelligent, self-aware, and psychologically strong young people. Its strength lies in combining evidence-based practice with compassion, realness, and an accessible tone. The authors are honest about the messiness of parenting, and their vulnerability and warmth make the book especially powerful for parents navigating uncertain waters."" Dr Grace Lordan, Professor in Behavioural Science, London School of Economics ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ""In an era where young people are overwhelmed by constant noise, disconnection, and pressure, this book is a lifeline. Raise Resilience is not only a roadmap for parents but a powerful invitation to help teenagers reclaim their confidence, clarity, and purpose. With wisdom rooted in science and stories that feel real, Lucy Bailey and Voula Tsoflias offer more than just advice—they offer tools to transform families and equip the next generation to thrive. Every parent, educator, and youth leader should read this."" — Karen Guggenheim, Founder & CEO, World Happiness Summit® (WOHASU®); Author of Cultivating Happiness: Overcome Trauma and Positively Transform your Life ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This should be required reading for every parent. Combining an introduction to the brain, with good parenting, and the impact of social media, it guides parents to build resilience in their teenagers. It stands out for the wisdom of the authors and the wide range of advice. I cannot recommend it too highly. Dr John Coleman OBE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This book is both a resource and a companion—for young adults, parents, and grandparents alike. It offers meaningful insights and food for thought for every stage of life. Eva Schwarz, Mother, Grandmother, Harvard ALI Fellow 2023, Founder of Amity: A Preventive Loneliness Project

Author Information

Lucy Bailey is chief executive officer and founder of Bounce Forward a charity that specialises in building psychological fitness in children and the adults around them. Voula Tsoflias is a trustee of Bounce Forward. She is a chartered psychologist, specialising in the development of resilience, through her work with corporate leaders.

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