How to Make & Keep Friends: Tips for Teens on Life and Social Success

Being a teenager isn’t always easy, and friendships and relationships can be especially challenging for some teens. Social-emotional learning experts, Donna Shea and Nadine Briggs are the co-authors of the How to Make and Keep Friends book series and have more than 30 years of combined experience in social coaching children and teens. Donna and Nadine's books teach simple, actionable, and proven strategies for increased social success.

Our goal in writing this third book in our social skills series was to help make the social journey through the teenage years an easier one. This time in life can feel both exciting and difficult. There are some challenges that every teen experiences. These include:

• Developing Brains and Bodies;
  
• Strong Emotions (including Anxiety and Anger);
  
• Understanding Yourself and Dealing with Peer Pressure;
  
• Social Awkwardness and Changing Friendships; and,
  
• Barriers to Social Success (Shyness, Impulsivity, etc.)
  

We know from our experience as social coaches that making new friends and meeting people can be difficult, but it’s do-able for everyone. Sometimes a teen needs a little social skills support or advice to make that happen. We had real teens help us with writing the tips in this book. We talk about what social skills are and why they are so important. This book is written for any teen and can be especially helpful to teens who have ADHD, Social Anxiety, Asperger’s, Non-Verbal Learning Disability or High Functioning Autism.

The book is meant to be used as a reference guide and includes a list of social skills with tips in each section. We did not intend for it to be read cover to cover. Teens can quickly flip to the subject they want to know more about and read only the parts that will be interesting and helpful to them as an individual or for a specific situation.

There are a total of 500 immediately actionable tips for teens to use. We have sections that cover:

• Personal Hygiene;
  
• Building Self-Confidence;
  
• When People Annoy You; 
  
• Being Excluded, Ignored or Rejected;
  
• Considering Different Points of View;
  
• Handling Conflicts and Disagreements; 
  
• Social Media Tips;
  
• Interviews and Appointments;
  
• Accepting Criticism;
  
• Dating and Sexuality; and much more!