Many of the strategies and techniques for building and enhancing teenage self- esteem in the following 12 Steps have been selected from two books by Sarah Chana Radcliffe called:Teen Esteem and Smooth Sailing, both published by Targum Press. Please visit her site at www.sarahchanaradcliffe.com

Step One

Finding happiness starts with getting to know your own special strengths and learning how to develop them.

Tips for Step 1

• The daily pressures of school, parents and "getting in with the right crowd" can get you down. This is normal-and you are normal even if you get low, down and depressed because of these pressures.
• All you are looking for is a little "chillin' space"- to hang out with friends
• who feel like you and who understand you. We understand that.
• When you can't find your "chillin' space" you may have, in the past, tried to feel better by trying "stuff" like drinking alcohol or doing weed. You probably felt better for a while but then the pressures and bad feelings came back. So you realize that the "stuff" is not a real long term answer. For now, you feel like it's all you've got to feel better. But you are willing to explore the possibility that there might be other ways to feel better. Right? Good. Keep reading,

-You may feel so unloved or so "not understood" by parents and "the world" that you may be tempted to give in to the social pressure of having sex before you really want to. You may be looking for warmth and love-but be aware that the other person may not really be interested in love-they may only be looking for a good feeling-but that's about them-not you.

-The long term answer to feeling good about yourself is not OUTSIDE of you-or in drinking or doing "stuff' or having sex. The answer lies INSIDE your own skin-getting happy with YOURSELF and learning to chill with your own feelings and thoughts.

You can start by getting to know your INNER SELF.

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