A Hard Holiday Season Is Not a Parent Fail! Oh boy, the holidays are just around the corner. Many of us parents say it every year – how is it already coming up on Thanksgiving and aaaaack that means the next holiday is just __ days away! It’s...
More InfoParents’ Frenemy Relationship with Screens Part 2: Finding a middle ground By: Anastasia S. Ristau, PhD, LP
If you happened to have read part 1 of this blog, you may recall we covered some of the impacts of screens seen on kids and teens: good, the bad and the ugly. Part 1 covered, in my opinion as both a clinical child psychologist and a parent right...
More InfoThe “Frenemy” Relationship with Screens (Part 1) What’s the Mental Health Impact upon my kids? By: Anastasia S. Ristau, PhD, LP
Parenting in the age of screens is front and center for many families like never before. While I’m the first to recognize that technology has value, more often than not, as a parent and even moreso as a clinical psychologist working with kids and...
More InfoSuicide Rates are on the Rise… What can be done? By: Jen Holper, MA, LSW
This week alone two celebrities have lost their battle with mental illness by taking their own lives. CNN reported on a survey published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that suicide rates increased by 25% across the...
More InfoParenting in the Gray By: Anna Bohlinger, Phd, LMFT of Paragon Residential Treatment for Youth
You walk into a room and something is missing. You can’t quite put a finger on what. But you know, whatever it is, it’s gone. Ambiguous loss is a little bit like that. You are living your ordinary life, and something silent and extraordinary...
More InfoCoping Skills for Everyone By: Jason Griswold, LICSW
Everyone can benefit from using coping strategies for times when our thoughts and / or body sensations are sounding the alarms of stress, anxiety or depression. I am gifting to you my secret stash of top coping skills frequently used in therapy...
More InfoPsychiatric Assistance Line (PAL): A psychiatric support for primary care and patients By Sarah Baker, LICSW and Allison Litzenberg, LICSW
For decades, the shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists (CAPs) and other specialized mental health practitioners has resulted in the challenge of meeting the overwhelming mental health needs in communities all over the country. These...
More InfoHow Does Psychotherapy Work? By: Meredith Gunlicks-Stoessel, PhD, LP and Michael Bloomquist, PhD, LP
“How exactly is coming to therapy going to help me (or my child) feel better?” That’s a question that we are often asked as therapists. It’s a good question and an important one. Usually we answer by describing the theory behind the particular...
More InfoWhat on earth are PMADS? By Guest Blogger Crystal Clancy, MA, LMFT
Many new and expecting parents are familiar with Postpartum Depression (PPD). Those of us who specialize in perinatal mental health are aware that many people think that the only mental health complication of the postpartum period is PPD...
More InfoThe Benefits of Mask Making in Self Development by Nikki Witt, ATR-BC, LPCC
“I reveal myself one mask at a time.” -Stephan Dunn Masks have been created for centuries to act as protection, expression, containment, communication, transformation and memorialization. They can reveal, conceal, and evoke all at the same...
More InfoManaging Stress and Sobriety Through the Winter and Holiday Season By: Dan Burris, MA LPCC LADC- Transform/Clinic Therapist and Andrea Grey, MSW LGSW- Transform Adult IOP Social Worker
“Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house you could find enough booze to stock a warehouse. The families and friends who said they’d help out, now openly party and bandy about”. Awe, the Holiday Season which packs full of...
More InfoEmbracing Anxiety for Family Wellness by: Anastasia Sullwold Ristau, PhD, LP
Anxiety. Stress. Worries. Nervousness. These are referring to those uncomfortable times when something grows big inside our minds and bodies, takes over, and is hard to manage or control. The good news is that this is normal. In fact, not only...
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