Parent Guides

Below you will find a collection of useful Parent Guides offering information and advice on issues the Evolve team helps teens with every day as well as information on some specific types of therapies we use. Click on each button to learn more about the therapy or the mental health, substance abuse, or behavior problems that you may be encountering with your teen.

ADHD

Basic skills other teens take for granted seem to elude those living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – or ADHD for short. Every area of their life – school, work, relationships, and family life – can be painfully affected.

Alcohol Abuse

Adolescents and alcohol. Some people would argue it’s an inevitable combination. Others would argue that it doesn’t have to be that way. Many parents of teens choose to ignore the red flags of their child’s alcohol abuse or regard it as some sort of adolescent “rite of passage” instead of a serious problem.

Anorexia Nervosa

This brief guide is designed to help you know the signs to watch for and the steps to take if you believe your teen is battling anorexia nervosa.

Anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder – GAD)

GAD can significantly impact teens’ ability to concentrate, sleep, and function normally. It makes it difficult – if not impossible – to relax and have fun, essentially robbing them of joy.

Asperger’s Syndrome

It’s heartbreaking for parents to discover that their child’s development isn’t on par with other children his or her age. Asperger’s Syndrome, which primarily impacts social and communication skills, fits into a category of delayed development formerly known as “pervasive developmental disorders”.

Binge Eating Disorder

When it comes to your teen’s eating habits and psychological well-being it can be difficult to determine what’s normal and what’s not. This brief guide is designed to help you know the signs to look for and the steps to take if you suspect your teen may have binge eating disorder.

Bipolar Disorder

Mood swings are often considered a normal part of adolescence – just ask any parent with one or more teenagers at home. However, the so-called “normal” teenage mood swings are actually quite different from the intense mood swings of bipolar disorder.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

It can be difficult to determine if your teen’s concern about his or her appearance and seeming obsession with the mirror is normal or not. This brief guide is designed to help you know the signs to watch for and the steps to take if you suspect your teen has body dysmorphic disorder.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

Adolescence can be a turbulent time. Anyone who lived to survive it – including those who are now parents of teens – know about the social, emotional, and physical rollercoaster that often characterizes the teen years. For a small percentage of teens, the emotional turbulence is especially intense, confusing, and painful. For some teens, emotional upheaval during adolescence signals the beginning of a severe emotional disorder known as borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Bulimia Nervosa

This brief guide is designed to help you spot the signs and know what steps to take if you suspect your teen is suffering from bulimia nervosa.

Conduct Disorder

Frequent acting out, cruelty to people or animals, defiance, and aggressive behavior are just some of the warning signs of conduct disorder in children and teens. While some of these behaviors can be alarming to parents, they can also have serious consequences for you teen.

Cutting

There’s something inherently disturbing – at least for most people – at the thought of anyone intentionally cutting himself or herself. And yet, a surprising number of young, vulnerable teens gravitate towards this behavior – and their parents are completely oblivious.

Depression

Adolescence can be an especially challenging phase of life, often accompanied by emotional ups and downs – as any parent of teens can attest. The combination of rapidly changing bodies, identity issues, raging hormones, and myriad social pressures can trigger occasional “blue” days for even the most well-adjusted adolescent.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy is gaining more exposure as parents and therapists are recognizing its remarkable value in helping teens with emotional dysregulation, self-harming behavior, suicidal ideation, and other mental health and/or behavioral issues.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)

A relatively new psychiatric disorder known as disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, or DMDD for short, may be the proper diagnosis if you’re dealing with a teen with a combination of mood symptoms and highly disruptive and intense behaviors.

Drug Abuse and Substance Use Disorder

Helping your child navigate the choppy waters of adolescence is probably one of the most difficult parenting tasks of all. Teens are hard-wired to stretch their wings, try new things, and take risks to learn about themselves and grow into young adults.

Dual Diagnosis and Co-Occurring Disorders

Teens diagnosed with a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder at the same time receive a dual diagnosis. A person with a dual diagnosis has what mental health professionals call co-occurring disorders.

Gender Dysphoria

This brief guide is designed to help you spot the signs and know what steps to take if you suspect your teen has gender dysphoria.

Mood Disorders

A mood disorder is a mental health condition characterized by a significant, prolonged emotional disturbance that affects an individual’s ability to function in their daily life. The type of disturbance depends on the disorder, and some mood disorders include both depressive and manic episodes.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Typically referred to as OCD for short, this psychiatric disorder can cause significant distress. In more severe cases of the disorder, OCD can become debilitating.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Very frequent or daily occurrences of oppositional and blatantly defiant behavior can signal a mental health disorder known as oppositional defiant disorder, or ODD for short.

Panic Disorder

Panic disorder occurs when the brain’s normal ability to interpret signals from the environment isn’t working properly. This brief guide is designed to help you recognize the signs and know the initial steps to take if you believe your teen has panic disorder.

Phobias (Specific Phobia)

This common anxiety disorder involves having an extreme and irrational fear of an object or situation such as spiders, blood, getting an injection, or being in an elevator or other confined space.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious psychological disorder that develops in some individuals after they’ve been through something traumatic. If left untreated, it can negatively impact all areas of a person’s life, making it difficult or even impossible to function, let alone experience any joy in life.

Prescription Drug Abuse

For decades, many parents worried about their adolescents experimenting with or getting addicted to “hard” drugs, such as meth, heroin, or cocaine. The good news is that those drugs aren’t as common among teens as they once were.

Psychosis

Psychosis is the clinical term used when an individual loses touch with reality. In adolescents, psychosis can be caused by many different factors, ranging from substance abuse to the onset of a serious mental health disorder.

Self-Harm

If you’re like most parents, the idea of your teen intentionally harming himself or herself is a tough one to wrap your mind around. However, an increasing number of adolescents today are secretly harming or mutilating themselves while their parents are completely oblivious.