Written by: Miki Fire, PsyD For many people, the process of grief is one of the most challenging and painful experiences in our lives. Whether it is grief following the death of a loved one, the ending of a relationship, the loss of a job or a home, the death of a pet, or even […]
Tag Archives | teens
How To Tell the Difference Between the Blues and Symptoms of Depression: 6 Tell-Tale Signs
By Jan Hittelman on April 7, 2014 in Anger, Depression-Bipolar, Grief & Loss, Medication, Psychological Assessments, Stress
By Sunda Friedman Tebockhorst, PhD, LPC “The opposite of depression is not happiness, but vitality.” This quote from writer Andrew Solomon contains some important wisdom about the nature of the beast we call depression. It is normal to experience sadness, to have days of feeling grumpy or down. We all have days like this, sometimes […]
Pet Loss: How to Help Your Child Cope with Grief
By Jan Hittelman on March 22, 2014 in Anger, Anxiety, Communication, Early Childhood, Grief & Loss, Parenting Difficulties, Stress, Transitions
By Jenny Key, LCSW My earliest memories center on our lively, red-haired family member, Donovan. He was the star of our summer outings, ate too much birthday cake, and made holidays chaotic. He was my constant companion and first adventure buddy. I recall vividly, despite my young age of four, when I realized that Donavan […]
3 Benefits of Practicing Mindfulness Parenting
By Jan Hittelman on February 22, 2014 in Adoption, Attachment, Communication, Early Childhood, Parenting Difficulties, Stress, Transitions
By Debbie Mayer, LCSW Mindfulness parenting is all the rage these days, and there’s good reason for it. The general idea behind mindfulness is the ability to practice being present and aware without judgment. Now, combining this approach with parenting is not necessarily what you might instinctually think to do. ‘You mean, you want me […]
Book Review: The Whole Brain Child
By Jan Hittelman on February 22, 2014 in Adoption, Attachment, Communication, Early Childhood, Parenting Difficulties, Stress, Transitions
Book Review: The Whole Brain Child: 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your Child’s developing Mind (2011) Authors: Daniel Siegel, MD and Tina Bryson, PhD By Mia Bertram, LPC The Whole Brain Child, is a must read for every parent and caregiver. This valuable resource offers easy ways to help nurture the parent child relationship while […]
Aliveness: Finding Presence through our Bodies, Finding Love through our Presence
By Rachael Bonaiuto, LPC “Spirit lives in you; it lives within your body, in every cell. You can touch the great Spirit by touching into your aliveness.” – Brooke Medicine Eagle How do we touch into our aliveness? I ask myself this question often… My best guess is embodiment… to be in our bodies, to […]
Secret Stash: Where Young Adults Hide Drugs
(23 places young adults hide drugs: a “Where’s Waldo for clueless parents) Posted by: Linda Cain, MSED At Risk Alternatives, L.L.C. Finding Options Supporting Success 1. Hidden behind things on shelves 2. Hidden in a slit cut into my mattress 3. Hidden in custom sewn pockets in my clothes 4. Hidden in dashboard of my […]
Families in Transition
Is Your Family Struggling To Adapt To A Change Within Your Family System? Is your family struggling to adjust to a significant family transition, such as a new baby, new developmental stages for your children, adolescent angst or launching a teenager? Is this new shift in your family triggering conflict, uncertainty or imbalance within your […]
What I say before I even open my mouth:
By Jan Hittelman on September 17, 2013 in Anxiety, Communication, Parenting Difficulties, School Issues, Social Issues, Transitions
The value and importance of understanding non-verbal communication By Rachael Bonaiuto, LPC ”The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” –Peter F. Drucker Why Non-Verbal Communication? The World English Dictionary defines nonverbal communication as “those aspects of communication, such as gestures and facial expressions, that do not involve verbal communication but which […]
Strategies for Parenting the Older Adolescent
By Jan Hittelman on September 17, 2013 in Communication, Parenting Difficulties, School Issues, Transitions
Steering Versus Fueling By Dan Fox, LPC Let’s use the metaphor of life as a car. If your daughter’s life was a car, when she’s little, it’s your job to steer. We’ve got to keep them safe, provide a rational structure, help them when they are stuck emotionally or with one of life’s many challenges. Still, […]
Understanding the Common Challenges of Adopted Children
By Karen Wilding, LCSW To begin with, I am an adopted child. I was adopted in the 40’s in a closed adoption, but I believe that although adoption has changed since the 40’s to having many more open, family and foreign adoptions, there are issues that are common to all adopted children. These issues […]
Strategic Parenting for a Successful School Year
By Jan Hittelman on September 1, 2013 in Anger, Attachment, Communication, Parenting Difficulties, School Issues, Stress
A new school year presents a new opportunity to develop a game plan for the academic year that yields positive results for your student(s) as well as your family. Quite often, a stressor for one family member tends to have an impact on everyone; a parent’s new job, a family member struggling with emotional challenges, […]
Considering Medication for Your Child’s Psychological Issues
By Jan Hittelman on August 17, 2013 in ADHD, Anger, Anxiety, Depression-Bipolar, Medication, Parenting Difficulties, Psychological Assessments, School Issues
Q: Some parents I know seem in a rush to have their children go on medication for things like depression and hyperactivity. What should parents do before making the jump to medication? A: For psychological disorders, a thoughtful and accurate diagnosis is key to developing an effective treatment plan. What elementary child does not have […]
Helping Your Teen Have a Successful Summer
By Jan Hittelman on August 17, 2013 in Parenting Difficulties, School Issues, Social Issues, Stress, Substance Abuse, Transitions
Q; How can I help my adolescent have a fun, productive, and safe summer? A: Summers can be a unique challenge for parents of adolescents. On the one hand we want to honor their desire for making more of their own decisions regarding summer activities, as the shift to independence is a key developmental task […]
Helping Your Child Transition to Adolescence
Q: How can I help my soon-to-be middle school child adjust to adolescence? A: Just when we start to figure out effective parenting techniques, the onset of adolescence makes a lot of what we do as parents obsolete. If our parenting and discipline strategies do not evolve with our children’s development, we quickly find ourselves […]
Self-Harm Behavior
By Jan Hittelman on August 17, 2013 in Addictions, Anger, Anxiety, Depression-Bipolar, Parenting Difficulties, Social Issues, Stress
By Dr. Jan Hittelman “My 13-year-old daughter is a cutter. She also smokes. I have done everything I can to stop her, but she did it again last night and I took her to the emergency room. On the way home, I asked her what I could do to help her stop cutting. She said […]
Screen Time Addiction
By Jan Hittelman on August 17, 2013 in Addictions, Depression-Bipolar, Parenting Difficulties, Social Issues, Stress
Q: How do I know when my child is spending too much time on the computer or playing video games? A: As more people engage in high tech recreation, there are increasing concerns regarding the effects of these activities and the potential harm of excessive computer and video game use. Some of the key factors […]
Dealing with a Difficult Teacher
By Jan Hittelman on August 17, 2013 in Communication, Early Childhood, Parenting Difficulties, School Issues
Q: What’s a parent to do? Your child confides in you about a teacher’s behavior in the classroom, but expects you to keep silent about comments/actions that are demeaning, hurtful, even abusive. How does one bridge not wanting to speak forth for fear of reprisal on a child already stressed and scared — against feeling […]
Helping Your Child Transition from the Summer Back to School
By Jan Hittelman on August 17, 2013 in Communication, Parenting Difficulties, School Issues, Transitions
By Dr. Jan Hittelman Q: After the summer break, what are some suggestions on transitioning my student from a more laid back summer schedule to a school routine and avoiding the chaos that comes with early weeks of school? A: Much like the calendar year, the school year also has a certain seasonality or flow. […]
Addressing Teen Sleep Issues
By Dr. Jan Hittelman Q: I’ve read your columns encouraging a later start time for high schoolers, as well as health reports regarding teenagers’ sleep patterns. Do you think this is a serious enough concern that parents should be speaking out to BVSD about the matter? Maybe we should consider nourishing our children’s bodies not […]
Dangers of Alcohol Poisoning
By Jan Hittelman on August 17, 2013 in Addictions, Communication, Parenting Difficulties, Substance Abuse
By Dr. Jan Hittelman Q: I had a disturbing conversation with a friend about a parent’s experience with alcohol poisoning. The child had already been in trouble with the police, over alcohol use; and had passed out drunk again, when the parent was called to pick up the teen. The parent did not take the […]
Addressing Alcohol Use in Teens
Q: What objective evidence is there that absolute prohibitions against alcohol in the home reduce teenage drinking vs. a European approach of drinking moderate amounts, such as wine at dinner? Secondly, how do researches reliably measure rates of teenage drinking? Don’t most substance abusers lie about their consumption, even to themselves? Concerned Dad A: Surveys […]
Homework Battles
By Dr. Jan Hittelman Q: My son is 9 years old. He is quite competitive, yet shy and sensitive in many ways. He gets angry when I help him with his homework or correct his mistakes. I fear he is not getting a good education because of this “dance” we do around trying to help […]
Empowering Middle School Youth
By Jan Hittelman on August 17, 2013 in Communication, Parenting Difficulties, School Issues, Transitions
By Dr. Jan Hittelman Q: My child is in middle school and not interested in doing the daylong-supervised activities that worked so well in elementary school. How do I balance my need to provide him with safety and structure during break with his desire to relax and be more in charge of what he does? […]
Importance of After School Activities
By Dr. Jan Hittelman After the school day has ended, it is estimated that 40 percent of young people’s time is often unstructured, unsupervised, and unproductive (Carnegie, 1992). Several studies have documented increases in a variety of at-risk behaviors for youth during the hours immediately after school, especially between 3:00 and 6:00 P.M. When youth participate […]