Teen depression is common as you struggle with the multiple demands of school, grades, friends, social pressures, and more. Teenagers have lots to figure out and sometimes you feel your trying to put it together without the instruction manual. You have to figure out how to fit in, what group you belong to, and what […]
Children and teenagers with social anxiety is a common occurrence. It often shows up in early adolescence where kids have difficulty making friends, making connections and developing a satisfactory social life. We generally describe these kids as shy but the problem can become more pervasive and problematic for many kids. Few things are more painful […]
During the teenage years, teenagers go through a lot of changes, both physical and emotional. When you see your teenager’s behavior changing, it’s easy to become worried that they seem depressed. Worse still, you might be worried your teenage seems depressed enough to hurt themselves. Is My Teenager Depressed? Some of the common behavior changes […]
Counseling for Anxiety is one of the main things that therapists provide. So the good news is that if you have anxiety, you’re in good company. There are many different strategies that help with anxiety. Below, I will discuss one of the strategies. Anxiety as a Mental Construct Anxiety often comes about because of our […]
In my Grand Rapids counseling office, I see a lot of stressed out teens who worry about their futures. They try to get the best grades they can and do all sorts of extracurricular actives to create a portfolio that will impress colleges. They worry about not getting into the right college and ruining their […]
I just heard this saying the other day for the first time and it made me think about my own habits. The saying suggests to me that we all have a level of conscientiousness about how we approach things, from our jobs to relationships to keeping up our homes to parenting our kids. If someone […]
I counsel a lot of teenagers and young adults who suffer from low self-confidence. One thing that sometimes happens is they find themselves staying in relationships that aren’t working because they allow their self-worth to be dictated by being in a relationship, or by being valued by their friends, rather than valuing themselves independently for […]
Talking to teenagers effectively is a critical skill when guiding them make healthy decisions for themselves. When I was a school social worker, providing counseling for teenagers, I worked with young children, ages 5 to 8 years old. These were easy kids to work with because they liked seeing the social worker and enjoyed counseling. […]
Talking to teenagers can be a challenge because of what we think of as teenage resistance. One of my first jobs was as a case manager for families and children. At the time, I worried about doing counseling with teenagers because I thought they were rude, disrespectful, and walked around with giant chips on their […]
ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome are two common disorders that are usually first diagnosed during childhood. They can appear very similar in their symptoms but have different causes and different treatments. Symptoms of ADHD While many children are diagnosed with ADHD in childhood, quite often Aspergers Syndrome is mistaken for ADHD at first. The APA in […]