Growing Pains : Making Sense of Childhood - A Psychiatrist's Story

''A remarkable, powerful, tender and insightful book that will change lives. I cannot doubt that hundreds - I would hope thousands - of families can be helped by Mike Shooter''s profound, careful and utterly convincing insights.'' STEPHEN FRY

''A unique book . . . The stories [Shooter] tells are poignant and powerful testimonies to the resilience of the human spirit and will fascinate all of us who struggle to make sense of our own and other people''s lives.'' MARJORIE WALLACE CBE

''Brilliant book. Mike Shooter has . . . given us a truly 3D picture of the struggles of growing up.''
PROFESSOR DAME SUE BAILEY, Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges

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Child psychiatrist Dr Mike Shooter sheds light on the painful issues and universal experience of growing up, through the stories of his patients and their families.

Growing up isn''t easy. We can be at our most vulnerable and confused. And the right help isn''t always there when we need it most. For over forty years psychiatrist Mike Shooter has listened to children and adolescents in crisis, helping them to find their stories and begin to make sense of their lives.

Mike Shooter''s own life has been shaped by his battle with depression. It makes him question received wisdom. He knows labels won''t always fit and one diagnosis will not work for all.

His patients'' stories are at the heart of this book. Mike Shooter shares their journey as, through therapy, they confront everything from loss and family breakdown to bullying, grief and illness. We see how children begin to make breakthroughs with depression or anxiety, destructive, even sometimes violent behaviour.

Growing Pains is compelling and compassionate - a book to make us wiser and braver, and to help us see how children''s stories can find happier endings.