Professor and expert on resilience among troubled children, youth and families.

What crises are kids facing and what role can adults play in keeping dangerous and delinquent youth from drifting further into trouble?

How do parents and caregivers set appropriate limits and provide concrete suggestions that allow children the opportunity to experience the rites of passage that will help them become competent, happy, thriving adults?

Michael Ungar, PhD., an internationally recognized expert on resilience in youth, shows how adult support and influence really can help kids realize their full potential and how it can protect them from the dangers of delinquency, whether it be drug abuse, violence, or early sexual activity.

Children need to learn how to distinguish between positive and negative risks. Providing them the 'risk-taker's advantage' means helping them grow up with manageable amounts of risk and responsibility that prepare them for the challenges of adult life.

A Professor at the School of Social Work, at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Dr. Ungar is a registered Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist. He has worked with children and families in child welfare, mental health, education and correctional settings for over twenty years.

Dr. Ungar is a recognized expert on resilience in at-risk youth and leads the International Resilience Project, which focuses on developing a more culturally sensitive understanding of how children all over the world cope with adversities such as war, poverty, isolation, illness of a parent, and geographic relocation. This research redefines how adults should look at resilience in children. Resilience concerns both a child's capacity to cope and the capacity of the child's family and community to offer their support.

Dr. Ungar is the author of two highly praised books, Playing at Being Bad: The Hidden Resilience of Troubled Teens and Too Safe for Their Own Good: How Risk and Responsibility Help Teens Thrive. His new book We Generation: Raising Socially Responsible Kids is being published in January 2009.

In addition to his research and writing interests, Dr. Ungar maintains a small family therapy practice for troubled youth and their families. A popular speaker, educator and author, he has spoken to thousands of people worldwide who are interested in raising happy and healthy children who are ready to contribute to their families, communities, and society at large.

• How Families and Schools Strengthen the Resilience of At-Risk Children and Youth
• Too Safe for Their Own Good:How Risk and Responsibility Help Teens Thrive
• Raising Socially Responsible Kids
• Playing at Being Bad: The Hidden Resilience of Troubled Teens
• Nurturing the Hidden Resilience of Troubled Children and Youth
• Resilience Across Cultures

"Author, social worker and family therapist Michael Ungar's experience shows us the unintentional harm that can come from good intentions… Ungar helps us understand that over-parenting and trying to reduce the risk of physical harm to zero leads to unintentional side effects… Let's take off the bubble wrap and let our kids breathe."
- Silken Laumann, Olympian and author of Child's Play

"At a time of escalating anxiety about teenagers, Too Safe for Their Own Good is the wake-up call we've been waiting for. Ungar not only shows why too much safety and not enough risk is a bad thing for adolescents, but he also gives practical tips for finding the right balance. Written with both authority and a light touch, this is required reading for parents, educators and anyone else who cares about our teens."
- Carl Honoré, author of In Praise of Slow and Under Pressure

"All of us parents, therapists and educators who work with adolescents will benefit from his ideas on what teenagers require for optimal growth."
- Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia

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