Understanding and Coping with Anxiety

Written By:  Deborah Sloss, LCSW  |  ACS Site Supervisor, On-Campus Counseling Program  Most of us have experienced anxiety at some point in our lives. Some people even feel a moderate amount of anxiety spurs them to action.  However, for others, anxiety can start to interfere with their day-to-day functioning.  According to the National Institute of […]

Read More

The Importance of Family Support of LGBTQQ+ Youth

Written By:  Dafne Luna, Outlet Program Coordinator and Group Facilitator     We live in this society where the second part of the December is intended to be spent in a happy coexistence with family, friends, and everyone else in the world.  However, this time of the year can be really hard for a lot […]

Read More

The H.O.P.E. on the “Road to Recovery”

Written By:  Laura Cole, Clinical Intern, ACS Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program and Community Counseling Program There are few people who enter recovery with feelings of exuberance.  Generally, pain and consequences are the catalysts for seeking help; and those experiences do not tend to generate warm and fuzzy feelings of hope.  Hence, the ‘road to […]

Read More

Is the Change in Weather Making You Feel SAD?

By: Christine Miller, ACS Clinical Intern, Community Counseling Program and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program   Have you ever noticed that your friends, family, children, or even yourself, feel “down” when the days grow shorter and the weather becomes colder? Maybe you feel irritable, sad, experience a change in appetite or sleeping patterns, or have […]

Read More

Dear Parents: Being a “Good” Parent is Not About Being Perfect!

Written By: Kelly Sumner, LMFT, ACS On-Campus Counseling Program Site Supervisor     I need to start here by acknowledging that I am not a parent and thus do not understand first hand the pressure parents face to raise their children into well-adjusted, successful, happy, moralistic, responsible members of society in today’s world. It’s a […]

Read More

Alternative Coping Strategies for Teens Turning to Drugs to Reduce Anxiety and Stress

Written By: Ann M. Stillingfleet, ACS Clinical Intern, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Community Counseling Programs Image: Torben Hansen, Marijuana Joint   We all too often hear teens tell us that anxiety and stress are their most persistent issues at home, in school, with peers and with their perception of themselves.  We also hear the […]

Read More

Outlet Offers LGBTQQ Youth a Place to Be – Nov 6, 2015

by Elena Kadvany / Palo Alto Weekly      Fri, Nov 6, 2015 There’s a rare place in Mountain View where transgender and gender non-conforming teens feel safe to explore, express and be who they are. That place is Outlet, a longtime local program that provides comprehensive services to LGBTQQ youth and adolescents, both directly in […]

Read More

Palo Alto School District Eyes New Gender-Identity Policy – Nov 6, 2015

 by Elena Kadvany / Palo Alto Weekly      Fri, Nov 6, 2015 The Palo Alto school board will discuss next week a new policy aimed at ensuring the protection of the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming students. The proposed policy, titled “Gender Identity and Access,” seeks to “promote the healthy development and safety […]

Read More

Palo Alto Weekly – Around Town – May 29, 2015

Around Town News – May 29, 2015     BRACELETS FOR COUNSELING … Two Palo Alto High School seniors started selling handmade bead bracelets this week to support Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS), a Palo Alto nonprofit that provides on-campus counseling to Paly and Gunn students, student news website the Paly Voice reported. Seniors Claire Chevallier […]

Read More