Now Open: Neuroaffirming Residential Treatment for Autistic Teens
New Neuroaffirming Program for Autistic Teens
Learn More ×Media coverage of the nationwide protests occurring in response to the tragic death of George Floyd has been nearly constant since Memorial Day. Every second a new video appears: from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, demonstrators are out in the streets, making their voices heard. And your adolescent is watching it all unfold, in real time, on TV and on their phones. Many parents are asking themselves this
June is Pride Month! In honor of #Pride, we asked Clarissa Harwell, LCSW for advice on making the therapy room a safe and welcoming space for teens who identify as LGBTQIA. Clarissa works for Uplift Family Services in the Bay Area and also has a private practice in Campbell, California. In addition to working with children and teens who engage in high-risk behavior, such as suicidal ideation or self-harm, Clarissa
Dating is a big part of being a teenager. Movies, pop music, books, and social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook glorify teen love, teen crushes, being boy-crazy, girl-crazy, or non-binary they/them crazy. To be clear, by crazy we mean obsessed, and by obsessed we don’t mean clinically. We mean the can’t-stop-thinking-about-my-crush kind of obsession, and crazy as in I’m crazy about this person because well I just am kind
With everything that’s going on in the world right now, you may find yourself wondering if your child worries about the news. News once aimed at adults and timed to air after younger kids went to bed now airs almost 24/7. Adults also receive constant news updates on their smartphones, or check social media to stay abreast of what’s going on in the world around them. And, in recent years,
Adolescence is a turbulent time for any teen. As the developing brain prioritizes sensation, learning, and exploration over risk mitigation, teens navigate a precarious path toward self-actualization and learn to build strong relationships both within and outside their peer groups. While recent research reframes adolescent risk-taking behavior as a natural adaptation – part of an instinctive push toward learning experiences that can lead to self-sufficiency – the facts remain that
Over the past few months, most families across the country have lived in relative isolation due to shelter-in-place orders designed to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. We’ve written several articles on the various ways this affects teens: they’ve missed school, missed seeing their friends in person, and missed milestone events like proms and graduations. Just when everyone thought things were looking up – as many parts of the
Your teen needs mental health treatment for a certain emotional, behavioral, or substance abuse problem. It could be depression, anxiety, trauma, ODD, DMDD, ADHD, prodromal psychosis, addiction, substance use, or any other mental health issue. The problem is, your teen does not want to go to treatment. Your teen could have a number of reasons why they don’t want to get mental health treatment. They could say they don’t need
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, experts predicted it might significantly impact teen mental health. With no real school or extracurricular activities, and limited opportunities for socializing or getting out of the house, professionals guessed that teens with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, self-injurious behavior, and suicidal ideation might be more at risk than ever. We can now see firsthand exactly how COVID-19 has impacted the mental health of adolescents in
In the U.S., many grandparents are primary caregivers for their grandchildren. According to a University of Michigan/AARP Poll, ten percent of grandparents care for their grandchildren full time. This number includes children ranging in age from infancy to adolescence. These numbers have doubled since 1970, leading to a sharp rise in grandfamilies. While the reasons for this vary, they have a common denominator: they typically involve some form of tragic
Many parents are struggling through COVID-19. Juggling childcare, cooking, homeschooling, and cleaning is no easy feat when you get zero breaks or vacation days during the week. As an added stress, many parents are either working from home, out on the front lines of duty as essential workers, or have been laid off. In such overwhelming and stressful circumstances, how in the world are parents or guardians supposed to be
