Written By: Wen Soon, Clinical Intern at ACS, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program communication is often one of the most important skills people are taught. We hear it from other parents, teachers, and the media as the one panacea to any problems we have in the family. Think about the last time you communicated with […]
Written By: Kenzie Bohnsack, Clinical PhD Trainee at ACS, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program as children emerge into their teenage years, parents may begin to worry about their adolescent’s use of substances, such as alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, and other drugs. Substance use is often initiated and quite common during adolescence. Alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco are […]
Written By: Samantha Rivas, Clinical Intern at ACS, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program don’t let your neighbors fool you: we all have family conflict. Whether it’s between the parents, parent/child, sibling/sibling, or some other relative, family conflict exists for every unit, and it is stressful. Conflict between family can come up for multiple reasons. Maybe […]
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, […]
Written By: Tarra Symons, AMFT at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program What comes to mind for you when you hear the phrase “family conflict?” Do you think of words like friction, strife, hostility, frustration, falling-out, and shouting? These are all possibilities, but these approaches to managing disagreements within a family make finding resolutions very challenging. Developing […]
Written By: Ingrid Ammondson, PhD, Program Director, ACS’ Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program Any of you who have attended parent education seminars at your school or at Adolescent Counseling Services already know that adolescence is an exciting (and sometimes dangerous) time of physiological, psychological, and spiritual growth. So much so that we might imagine placing […]
Written By: Dara Gray Tynefield, AMFT at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program Eustress vs. Distress For our students, the excitement of a new school year often gives way to a full routine of classwork, homework, extracurriculars, sports, clubs, arts, friends, family, jobs… and while the positive stress of a full and productive schedule is not inherently […]
Written By: Charlotte Villemoes, LMFT, Site Supervisor, ACS On-Campus Counseling Program The cuteness is gone, and so is the desire to hold your hand on the way to school and cuddle up at bedtime. The kid who used to look to you for answers for anything from “Why does the earth spin?” to “Why do […]
Written By: Deborah Sloss, LCSW, ACS Site Supervisor, On-Campus Counseling Program Teenagers today are constantly “plugged in”– gaming, texting, tweeting, or posting on Snapchat and Instagram. As parents, we worry that our kids are addicted, detached, and distracted by their digital devices. We struggle with how to set appropriate limits and how to keep […]
Written By: Sarah McLaughlin, LMFT, Site Supervisor, ACS On-Campus Counseling Program Teen relationships can often seem mysterious in this digital age. It’s not always easy for a parent to ascertain the nature of their child’s relationships or to keep track of the ups and downs that take place during these romantic relationships. How are teens […]
