Parenting Talent: The Grown-Up’s Guide to Understanding and Supporting Creatively Driven Teens and Tweens

Book Synopsis: Are you the parent of a tween or teen who is passionate about a creative art? Do you ever find yourself wishing that you had a little more parenting talent to help you . . . parent your talent?Whether your teen’s passion is singing, dancing, acting, art, music, content creation, or another creative art form, parenting “talented” tweens and teens can at times be a wonderful journey of inspiration and celebration—but it can also be a jarring experience full of worry, frustration, confusion, and lack of direction. You may be wondering if some of the challenges your teen is facing are directly connected to their relationship with their art.

In Parenting Talent: The Grown-Up’s Guide to Understanding and Supporting Creatively Driven Teens and Tweens, psychologist, author, and fellow parent Dr. Alaina Johnson uses her professional expertise and personal experience to help you guide your tween or teen through the challenges unique to being a young person in the arts.

Parenting Talentwill teach you:

• How to become the type of parent your teen turns to for support (when they’re not asking you for rides to their activities, of course).
• What to do when perfectionism, procrastination, fear, and anxiety rear their ugly heads (because unfortunately, denial won’t make them go away).
• How to use your tween or teen’s specific personality type to help them find and sustain motivation (because every teen is different!).
• Strategies for helping your teen build their skills, share their art, and face rejection (because your teen didn’t come with a manual).
• Tips for navigating the modern technological landscape of social media and cyberbullying (without feeling like you should just toss your teen’s mobile phone into a river and avoid the internet altogether).
• What to do when your teen utters one of two dreaded phrases: “I quit” or “I want to go pro.” (Hint—it’s not running away screaming, “Nooooo!”)

Whether you’re parenting an amateur artist or an aficionado, Parenting Talent will become an invaluable resource in your quest to understand, support, and affirm your talented tween or teen.