Book excerpt: Working with Troubled Children and Teenagers is an easy to understand guide packed with wisdom for anyone working with or caring for troubled children and teens. Author Jonny Matthew has decades of experience of working with young people, and offers simple but hard-won advice about how to earn the trust and respect of even the most challenging young people. It all starts with you, the adult, adopting a position of respect and patience. It's only then that children and young people will start to respond. From this starting point, Jonny provides a wealth of practical advice across a wide range of challenging topics - from the use of touch and understanding boundaries through to repairing relationships when things break down. Jonny uses case examples and stories throughout to bring his advice to life. This inspiring book is essential reading for any adult invested in improving the lives of troubled children, including youth workers, social workers, foster carers and child counsellors.