Belonging: The Barriers, and the Benefits
To know that we are not alone, that we are indeed a part of something larger, is a psychological need that occurs as early as childhood. Studies have shown that to be a part of a group or to have social connections are as critical to human survival as food, water, and shelter. In fact, […]
Teaching Consent to Children
As it often occurs, national events and headlines make their way to your living rooms and kitchen tables, and into our therapy offices, as well. Lately, questions about consent, boundaries, and healthy sexual expression have been occurring, as well as a question of “When should these topics be taught?” Theoretically, it should be easy. A […]
National Suicide Prevention Week
This week marks National Suicide Prevention Week, per the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This campaign aims to connect individuals and their loved ones and to increase the amount of conversations that are had about suicide, decrease the stigma that comes from talking about it, and hopefully, saving someone’s life. The American Foundation for Suicide […]
Tried and True Tips For Parenting Differently Abled Children
In this age of the internet, many parents crowd source their parenting decisions, even before a child is born. Parents scan the internet reading reviews of strollers and car seats, and read blogs about specifics like weaning and introducing solid foods, to overall parenting philosophies and discipline strategies. Parents of children with special needs are […]
Support for Gender Non-Conforming, Trans, and Non-Binary Individuals
Few topics generate such passion, and it can be hard to speak about the experience of gender non-conforming individuals without generating strong opinions from all sides of the political and moral spectrum. Yet despite all of the strong emotions, for the person who is experiencing gender dysphoria or confusion about their gender, they just want […]
Back To School Series: Big Moves
As children travel through their school years, they go from toddlers, to kids, to tweens, to teens, to adults! It happens quickly, and parents scramble to keep up with the growth, the changes, and transitions. Raising children is an experience of both eternity and a blink of an eye, and the changes are most evident […]
Back to School Series: Setting Up for Success
A new school year is a landscape of opportunity. Much like a New Year’s resolution, parents and children alike make promises for the new school year, such as zero late slips, fewer detentions, and reduced battles over homework. The first few weeks of school, the “honeymoon” period, consists of teachers, students and parents putting their […]
Back To School Series: How To Ease The Transition
It is hard to believe that though it feels like it just started, summer is starting to come to an end. Schools are planning orientations, creating class schedules, and assigning teachers and classmates. While the adults in their lives are looking forward to the new school year with optimism and anticipation, children may not necessarily […]
Stress and the American Person
Significant gender differences exist in the experience, and expectation, of stress across genders. In our country in particular, high achievement is equated with success, and many individuals are experiencing high, chronic states of stress and assuming it is normal, as they look at their neighbors. Gender Differences While making broad stereotypes about gender tends to […]
What is Depression?
Depression is used colloquially, and many times used when clinical depression is not actually the factor. We throw that term around easily. “That movie was depressing.” “I was depressed just looking at myself in that outfit.” However, there are very specific criteria that classify something as true depression. Clinical depression is marked by at least two weeks […]