MELROSE — Dr. Michael Thompson, renowned author, psychologist, and lecturer, is coming to Melrose to present a lecture entitled “The Pressured Student: Helping Your Child Find Success in School and Life.” Parents, educators, and community members are invited to attend this free event on Thursday, May 7, 2015, 7 p.m. at the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School (MVMMS) Auditorium. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

This 90-minute lecture includes a Q&A with Dr. Thompson and is intended for parents of students at all grade levels, educators, administrators, teens, and others who want to better understand the pressures K-12 students experience during their 13-year school journeys and the support they need along the way.

“Schools are reporting a worrisome trend: more and more students are experiencing anxiety and stress,” said Dr. Thompson. “This talk is for pressured parents who need to remember that school is full not just of studies but of human emotion and who are looking for a philosophy and approach to reducing their child’s anxiety and stress.”

Dr. Thompson is a New York Times bestselling author, clinical psychologist, school consultant, international speaker, and the author of nine books, including The Pressured Child. He leads workshops for teachers, administrators, parents, and students throughout the United States and internationally on the subjects of children, schools, and parenting. Dr. Thompson has appeared on national media outlets, and in 2006, he wrote and hosted the PBS documentary “Raising Cain.” Documentary filmmaker and Melrose Resident Tug Yourgrau will introduce Dr. Thompson.

Admission to the event is free, thanks to sponsorship by the:

• Melrose Education Foundation

• Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School PTO

• Melrose High School PTO

“We are so pleased that an expert of Dr. Thompson’s caliber will be speaking at our school,” said Christina Gagliano and Alaine Breen, co-Presidents of the MVMMS PTO. “Middle school is a time of tremendous emotional and social change, and having a better handle on what our teens and tweens are experiencing psychologically will help us to respond more appropriately as parents.”

“We encourage educators and caregivers of students throughout the K-12 school system to attend this event,” said Lisa Lewis, President of the Melrose Education Foundation. “The Foundation is proud to co-sponsor this lecture on a topic of such importance to all children and their families.”

“Over the past year, the Melrose High School community has engaged in an on-going discussion about the emotional stress and pressures many students experience,” said Melrose High School PTO President Ed O’Connell. “As we move that conversation forward, I hope parents and high school students will consider attending this lecture together.”

During his presentation, Dr. Thompson will share stories from his research, taking the audience into students’ school-day experiences, revealing three types of students and how each one’s journey has its own set of pressures. He will help to shed light on how students manage their school careers and how we can support them along the way.

Several of Dr. Thompson’s books, including The Pressured Child: Helping Your Child Find Success in School and Life, Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys, and Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children, will be sold after the event. Learn more about Dr. Thompson at: https://michaelthompson-phd.com/.

For more info about this event, visit: www.MelroseEdFoundation.org