Back to School: Managing Stress

Written By: Samantha Rivas, Clinical Intern at ACS, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program The alarm goes off. It’s time to pick out what to wear, get to school on time, see both new and familiar faces, get an excess amount of academic assignments, attend after-school programs, and juggle the obligations between family, friends, school, work, […]

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Trauma-Informed Care in Adolescents

Written By: Kate Polk, Trainee at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program TRAUMA is more common than we think. Darnell, Flaster, Hendricks, Kerbrat, & Comtois (2019) mention in their article that among adolescents between the ages of 13-17, 62% have been exposed to at least one or more traumatic event throughout their lifetime. These numbers are high, […]

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Healthy Relationships in Adolescence

Written By: Briana Rodriguez, MFT Trainee at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program Relationships are an important factor in development throughout the lifespan (Adams & Williams, 2011). However, relationship formation is particularly vital for adolescents’ development as they learn to navigate friendships and romantic relationships, as well as understand how those two things interact (Adams & Williams, […]

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Diary of an ACS Intern

Written By: Tarra Symons, AMFT at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program What is the typical day like as an ACS intern? Hmm, well, first of all, that’s hard to say because no two days are the same! You can do your very best to plan, be very well-organized, and feel prepared, but sometimes you just need […]

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Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Written By: Sean Vallor, AMFT at ACS, Community Counseling Program “The only way to deal  with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act or rebellion.” – Albert Camus As counselors, it is critical to be aware of systemic factors that adversely affect our clients and their […]

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Pride Month (And Why It Matters)

Written By: Cassidy Todd, Clinical Intern at ACS , Outlet Program in june 1969 in Greenwich Village, New York, a new movement began in the US.  Police raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar known to openly accept and embrace people of all sexual orientations, gender identity and expression, and proceeded to initiate a three-day riot […]

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Diary of an ACS Intern

Written By: Julie Hsu, MFT Trainee at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program changing careers mid-life and going back to graduate school to follow my dream of becoming a therapist was exciting and daunting at the same time. I was well aware of how impactful my first clinical placement would be, and how it would set the […]

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Anxiety

Written By: Marcus Randolph, MFT Intern at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program you know how mental health therapists have that popular saying? “Anxiety is dwelling or thinking too much about the future, and depression is dwelling or thinking too much about the past.” For those of us in the field of mental health, we know it’s […]

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Diary of an ACS Intern

Written By: Kate Polk, Trainee at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program I’m a first-year master’s student at Palo Alto University and a therapist with the On-Campus Counseling Program at Woodside High School. I have learned through my experience working with adolescents that they are my favorite population to work with. They are fun, spunky, lively and […]

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The Opioid Epidemic and Its Effect on Adolescents

Written By: Julie Hsu, MFT Trainee at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program The opioid crisis has gotten a lot of publicity, but the general belief has been that children and adolescents are seldom affected. However, what began as a public health problem of primarily young and middle-aged males is now an epidemic of prescription and illicit […]

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