11/6 9:30am pst - Janeane chats with Dr. Jerry Weichman Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, adolescent specialist, author, speaker and parenting expert

“Today’s teens and parents need to be armed with a ‘tool box’ of practical solutions, and step-by-step instructions on how to use them, to meet the challenges they will all predictably face.” Jerry Weichman, Ph.D., is a young clinical psychologist and adolescent specialist. His practice at Hoag Neurosciences Institute in Newport Beach, California helps teens deal with parents, teachers, friends and academic pressure, communicating with them in a way they understand to successfully handle the social drama of high school. Parents respond well to his directive approach, gaining a far deeper understanding of adolescent issues. Dr. Weichman’s book, How to Deal, is a survival guide for high school teens, sharing his personal struggles as a teen and young adult to teach teens how to deal with stress, elevate their mood and feel better… “even when things really suck.” His popular speeches, lectures and seminars have presented assemblies of students, teachers, parents and administrators with a valuable window on how today’s teens successfully overcome the all too predictable, and painful, trials and tribulations of growing up, from meeting parental academic expectations to walking away from drugs and other self-destructive behavior. Jerry Weichman grew up without a right foot, dealing with family problems and learning to walk with a prosthetic leg, being teased, developing body image issues, having social acceptance problems in school, experiencing lack of motivation, academic problems and depression. Dr. Weichman describes in detail his high school transformation which enabled him to elevate his mood, become more optimistic, foster more intrinsic motivation, receive academic and athletic honors in high school, play Division I football in college, receive academic awards in college and earn his Ph.D. at the early age of 26. “Dr. Jerry”, as his patients and their parents call him, provides concrete, applicable tools for teen problems and explains how to use them to become a self-reliant person. He bridges modern-age adolescent lingo, concepts and technology, and clinical knowledge, in an approach that resonates with teens. Dr. Jerry speaks at many schools, has worked as an intern with teens as a school psychologist in middle and high schools, counseled teens at community counseling centers and works with teens exclusively in private practice. He is on staff at Hoag Hospital. The relevance of his youth and experiences, combined with the directive approach he uses, connects teens and parents extremely effectively, teaching them better ways to cope with the challenges of growing up. A popular and well respected media resource, Dr. Jerry has been interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post and LA Times and has been asked to appear on major networks, ABC and Fox. He also sits on the Advisory Board for the Crisis Text Line, a subsidiary of DoSomething.org and is a regular contributing expert at award winning parenting website KidsInTheHouse.com.