Young People and the Curse of Ordinariness

by Nick Luxmoore

Again and again, young people return to the question, Am I the same as other people or am I different? It's a difficult question to answer. Everyone knows that they're the same as other people in lots of ways yet they suspect that they might also be different. Or they want to be different . . . Or they accuse other people of being different . . . Or they get beaten up for being different . . . This book is about young people trying to find answers, or at least trying to live more comfortably with the question. Using dozens of recognisable vignettes, Luxmoore explores teen anxieties about ordinariness and extraordinariness that affect their behaviour, their choices, their relationships, their happiness. He describes ways of working supportively and imaginatively with young people so that they can find some sort of balance, enjoy their lives and achieve all sorts of things without losing sight of the fact that - underneath everything and like everyone else - they're ordinary, and there's nothing wrong with that. This original and thought-provoking book will enable professionals in counselling, teaching and youth work to listen to young people who are struggling with these anxieties, and to really understand what they mean when they ask Am I normal?

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2010

About the author

Nick Luxmoore was an English psychotherapist and author.