Being a teenager and raising a teenager are individually, and collectively, enormous challenges. For many teens, illicit substance use and abuse become part of the landscape of their teenage years. Although most adolescents who use drugs do not progress to become drug abusers, or drug addicts in adulthood, drug use in adolescence is a very risky proposition. Even small degrees of substance abuse (for example, alcohol, marijuana, and inhalants) can have negative consequences. Typically, school and relationships, notably family relationships, are among the life areas that are most influenced by drug use and abuse.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common anxiety disorder that affects about 1 to 2% of the population. As its name implies, the symptoms of OCD involve obsessions that lead to compulsions. Obsessions are recurrent and persistent ideas, thoughts, images, or impulses that may cause a great deal of anxiety or distress.

Bipolar disorder is a major mental illness that involves extreme swings in mood, ranging from the low of depression to the high of mania. When depressed, a person may feel sad, have problems with sleeping, eating, and loosing weight, have many negative thoughts about oneself (including thoughts about death and hurting oneself), and experience difficulties with attention and concentration. During periods of mania, the individual may experience euphoric or irritable mood, inflated self-esteem and over-confidence, increased talkativeness, distractibility, and boundless energy, including a decreased need for sleep.

The loss of a child is the most devastating experience a parent can face-and missing the child never goes away. A piece of yourself is lost and your future is forever changed.

By definition, self- harm refers to hurting oneself to relieve emotional pain or distress. The most common forms of this behavior are cutting and burning. The least common forms of self-harm include pulling out bodily hairs, punching walls, and ingesting toxic substances or sharp objects.

These are a group of behaviors in which an individual damages his or her appearance or causes physical injury through:

Marital distress is one of the most frequently encountered and disturbing human problems. Everyone who is married experiences difficulties, but for some, these troubles reach the point that partners become profoundly disappointed and upset about their marriages and may even come to question whether they want to continue to remain married.

Somehow women have learned to expect that the birth of a baby automatically produces exhilaration and joy. They are led to believe that the period following childbirth should be the happiest time in their lives.

The session was held on 5.8.2009 at the HKUFI and attended by over 25 participants, representing CIFA, HKIEd, House of Learning,

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, BYU etc. The session started with an opening remark and introduction of the work of CIFA by Mrs. Patricia CHU, Chairperson of CIFA, followed by sharing of the work on family by Dr. Pang I- Wah of HKIEd, Dr. Caroline Kwok
of House of Learning and Professor Larry Nelson and Dr. Shirley Cox
of BYU respectively.

CIFA had the honour to organize a workshop on Dealing with Sex

Problems in Couples on 24 July 2009 at the HKU Family Institute. Prof. Ng Man-Lun, Associate Director of the HKUFI and a

renowned sex therapist, was invited to be the speaker of the workshop.