Teach teens to be nice…to themselves

It’s no secret adolescence is the period of peak stress. Rachel Simmons writes a fantastic article in the NY Times about self-compassion for stressed out teens.  Unfortunately, anxiety and depression have skyrocketed in today’s teens.  Between 2012 and 2015 depression increased 50% in teen girls and college students experiencing overwhelming anxiety reached 62% in 2016. …

Talking to your kids about school shootings

As we all reel yet again from the tragedy yesterday in Parkland, Florida it’s important as parents to be equipped to discuss these issues with our children.  NBC News asked mental health experts how they discuss these tragedies with their own children.  It provides some good ideas about how to communicate and process the events …

Bullying and Hazing in High School Sports

Matt Wixon and Greg Riddle of the Dallas Morning News write and excellent special report on the culture of hazing and bullying in high school sports.  I’ve heard heartbreaking stories from teens and observed the emotional fall out from this type of abuse.  Most of this is unreported and under the radar of parents, coaches …

Teenagers suffering more than ever from anxiety

Eye-opening story in New York Times Magazine about the epidemic of anxiety facing today’s teens.  Anxiety has overtaken depression as the most common reason college students seek counseling services. There’s been a doubling of hospital admission rates for suicidal teenagers in the past 10 years with the highest rates coming in the Fall after they …