It’s a familiar scene: you pick your teen up from school and try asking about their day, but their face is buried in their smartphone, and you get grunts or, at best, one-word answers. You know that the lure of their friends is partly to blame, and the internet is where everyone congregates. After all, you’re a hip parent who follows Chrissy Teigen and your favorite HGTV stars on Instagram! You’ve also heard of the dangers of the internet, cyberbullying, and internet addiction—and you just miss connecting with your teen!

When I first start talking to parents about SPACE, I often introduce the concept by saying that responding supportively to a child’s anxious emotions is as paradoxical as riding a bike backwards. But unlike riding a bike backwards, SPACE can be extremely effective and get us where we need to go. SPACE, standing for “Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions”, is a parent-based treatment program targeted to treat children’s anxiety. That is to say, your child never has to step foot into a therapist’s office in order for SPACE to have a positive impact on the family system and on your child’s anxiety.

With the COVID-19 pandemic winding down in some areas of the world, I had the opportunity to travel to Denver, Colorado for this year’s Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) Conference in March. I was so happy to be back among other clinicians and researchers to learn about the treatment of anxious and depressive symptoms. Here are a few of the lessons I learned on this trip:

Relaxation relies on paradoxical processes. What this means is that it is challenging to “try to relax.” We have all been in a situation where someone tells us to calm down, and we react with anger and irritation. Trying to suppress our emotions, numb or not feel them, may work to get rid of unwanted feelings. However, numbing, avoiding, and suppressing emotions can dull our emotional experience and affect how we interpret what is going on in our lives and interact with others. Psychotherapy can help teach us proven techniques to lower our stress levels and anxiety without getting rid of emotions.

Although the Thanksgiving holiday is behind us, continuing the practice of gratitude has mental health benefits for all of us. Gratitude may be especially helpful for kids and teens who suffer from symptoms of anxiety and depression, given its ability to improve symptoms associated with both of these categories of mental health disorders. Here are a few ways that gratitude can be helpful for kids and teens:

School Avoidance and School-Related Anxiety: What to Look For

The school year is in full swing and many students have settled into their classrooms and friendships. However, some parents are still noticing school-avoidant behavior and continue to wonder about the worries and fears that attending school might bring. Consider these questions when thinking about your student’s school avoidance:

Kids and teens are returning to school this year as adults continue arguing about masks and vaccines. Some students are even entering new schools and classrooms after more than a year of learning from home. Setting realistic expectations as the school year kicks off can be a helpful way to support the mental wellness and growth of our students. School has changed A LOT since March 2020.

As a psychologist who works with children and teens to battle anxiety every day, I have been processing the brave words and actions of Olympic champion Simone Biles all week. At just 24 years old, Ms. Biles has been thrust into the spotlight of these 2021 Olympics as the epitome of athleticism, and now, as a mental health advocate and role model. For athletes, young people, and particularly for Black women everywhere, Ms. Biles has set an example of prioritizing her mental health and well-being above others’ expectations of her…but what does this mean for us mere mortals?

As summer heat waves break records across the country, many kids and teens have already started preparations for the upcoming school year. Given the many months of learning at home, virtual school, hybrid education, and socially-distanced classes (or some combination of all of these), students are in for another strange and anxiety-provoking back-to-school season. Here are a few things that parents and professionals need to know about back-to-school anxiety in 2021:

Grief is a normal reaction to the death of a loved one, which is experienced across cultures. Grief can manifest in many ways, based on the bereaved person’s developmental stage, family/cultural norms, relationship with the person who died, and many other factors. Below is information intended for caregivers regarding 1) what grief might look like for youth in different developmental stages and 2) what caregivers can do to help youth through the grieving process. 

Online school has altered the nature and degree of parental involvement in their children’s schoolwork. As children have had to take on more independence, many parents have struggled to know how much to involve themselves in their children’s daily educational tasks and activities. This series of blog posts presents recommendations to help guide your involvement in your child’s online education.

A certain degree of parent involvement is necessary for most children to engage in online school sufficiently. However, too much parent involvement can backfire and hinder children's academic and behavioral development. So, how much is too much? And when is it not quite enough? The answer is: it depends on the child, their teachers, and your parenting values and level of availability to engage.

Over the past year, parents have been taxed with the immense challenge of navigating the pandemic while also ensuring that their children’s needs are being met. For many parents, this has meant juggling work from home while also supporting their childrens’ online schooling, on top of generally helping their families cope with increased isolation, boredom, and uncertainty.

As COVID-19 cases in the area decrease, a growing number of children are returning to in-person school. Many children are excited to return to school in person. However, for scores of children and adolescents, that excitement may also be accompanied by apprehension, nervousness, and/or anxiety.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 uprooting our lives as we knew it, most people are eager to return to their pre-pandemic routines and activities. However, the reality is that it will likely be some time before things fully return to “normal”. Unfortunately for most people, the appeal of “shelter at home” activities wore off a few months after the pandemic began.

During the COVID pandemic, many people are struggling to maintain healthy sleeping habits for a variety of reasons. Our work and social lives increasingly rely on screens, our homes (and sometimes bedrooms) may now be our workplaces, and our normal routines have been disrupted. Additionally, many people are suffering from increased stress.

A Psychological Assessment is often a critical component of one’s journey toward mental well-being. These evaluations provide information about a person’s cognitive, academic, executive, social, and emotional functioning. Psychological Assessments are frequently used to evaluate for diagnoses such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Specific Learning Disability (SLD), or even to differentiate between different types of anxiety disorders. Here are a few great reasons to have a Psychological Assessment completed over the summer:

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) suggests that our thoughts, feelings/emotions, and behaviors are all connected to one another and influence one another. CBT aims to identify and modify unhelpful thinking and behavioral patterns.

Imagine walking into school, the grocery store, the mall, or church. As soon as you walk in, you are suddenly paralyzed with anxiety, unable to speak to anyone. You are unable to ask questions or get help with your basic needs. You struggle to make eye contact. For many children with selective mutism this crippling anxiety is part of everyday life.

Unfortunately, it often takes people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) many years to receive proper diagnosis and treatment after symptom onset. In fact, due to stigma, embarrassment, lack of public awareness about OCD, financial barriers, and lack of access to a properly trained mental health professional, some estimates suggest that it takes an average of 14-17 years to obtain proper treatment. There are, however, very effective treatments available.