This week Alex Hassett discusses how brain research may help us understand the teenagers in our lives

In this podcast we have the audio from our most recent public lecture. Our own Dr Alex Hassett talks about understanding an often mysterious and sometimes troubling group for many of us: teenagers. Drawing on recent research in neuroscience, Alex talks about key areas where teenage brains are different from adult ones, how this may help to explain some very familiar behaviours and, crucially, how the rest of us can respond helpfully.

The best way follow the podcast is to subscribe to our feed. You can do this by looking up Discussions in Tunbridge Wells in iTunes, SoundCloud or wherever else you get your podcasts from. Or you can paste this link into your podcatcher of choice . As well as that you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook by searching for @CCCUApppsy. You can follow Alex on Twitter @aha_td.

Links to things we talked about on this show:

The Amazing Brain: What Every Parent and Caregiver Needs to Know. This article, by Multiplying Connections, talks about the fact that teenage brains are being shaped by the environment and experiences they have. Healthy relationships are a key set of experiences for the developing teenager.

Adolescent Brain Development: A Period of Vulnerabilities and Opportunities. This paper offers a framework for understanding adolescent that emphasizes the need to take an integrated view looking at the interaction of brain/behaviour and social context

The Amazing Teen Brain.  This article by Jay Giedd looking at the mismatch in the maturation of brain networks leaves adolescents open to risky behaviour but also allows for leaps in cognition and adaptability

Alex is a psychologist and psychotherapist who works with children and teenagers. He also heads our consultancy arm here and offers a range workshops and training events for organisations such as schools and charities. To find out more about Alex’s research you can look up his staff profile here and to find out more about Salomons Consultancy please look on our website here.

Details of our next public event, the launch of poet Louisa Campbell’s book The Ward (on July 12^th 2018) can be found here.

Producer: John McGowan

Music: http://www.bensound.com/

And special thanks to Jodie Allen for vital technical support (without which we wouldn’t have any audio to share!)

Please note The views and opinions expressed in this article and recording are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any of the contributors’ employing organisations.