Parenting a Troubled Teen ─ Manage Conflict & Deal With Intense Emotions Using Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Patricia E. Zurita Ona, PsyD, is director of the East Bay Behavior Therapy Center and adjunct professor at the Wright Institute. Her clinical work started first as school psychologist, and then as a clinical psychologist. She has significant experience working with children, adolescents, and adults with mood, anxiety, and body-image concerns; particular areas of expertise are obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Zurita Ona also provides specialized services for individuals struggling with emotional dysregulation problems, such as borderline personality disorder (BPD), with or without self-harm and suicidal behaviors. She is coauthor of Mind and Emotions, a universal protocol for emotional disorders that has received a “Self-Help Seal of Merit” from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT).

Foreword writer Kirk D. Strosahl, PhD, is cofounder of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a cognitive behavioral approach that has gained widespread adoption in the mental health and substance-abuse communities. He is coauthor of Brief Interventions for Radical Change and In This Moment. Strosahl provides training and consultation services for Mountainview Consulting Group, Inc. He is a pioneer in the movement to bring behavioral health services into primary care. He resides in Portland, OR.

Afterword writer Matthew McKay, PhD, is a professor at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. He has authored and coauthored numerous books, including The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, Self-Esteem, Thoughts and Feelings, When Anger Hurts, and ACT on Life Not on Anger. McKay received his PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, and specializes in the cognitive behavioral treatment of anxiety and depression. He lives and works in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.