Talking about suicide saves lives. Comprehensive studies by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health have been conducted addressing that point alone. The results are irrefutable and worth repeating: Thoughtful conversation about suicide saves lives. Although…
Not all kids are college-bound after high school, but many are. For parents who are sending a child off to college for the first time, reactions are often a mixed bag of pride and worry as they contemplate where their…
As the most common sleep disorder in America, insomnia affects about two out of every ten Americans. If you have insomnia, most nights you might have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or both. The sleep you get is often broken…
It’s a common refrain from parents of teenagers. “Haley spends most of the evening in her room. She is always on Instagram and texting with friends.” This process of separating from parents is part of normal development as teens move…
Chances are, you know someone living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. Children, teens, and adults suffer from this serious, and sometimes debilitating, mental health problem. There is good evidence to suggest OCD runs in families to some extent, or at…
Children experience a continuous stream of stimuli on a daily basis which can lead to a variety of reactions, including fear. While some fears may be rational, it’s not uncommon for children to develop irrational fears. Parents can help children…
Dealing with an anxious child can be heart-wrenching. We are living in complicated times, and children are challenged with mature social, emotional, and developmental issues earlier and earlier. Whether it’s in response to a school lock-down drill to practice emergency…
Negative behaviors in children are often a plea for attention. We’ve all seen it: tantrums, bully-level jokes, and overly dramatic reactions. But what about the child who constantly seeks attention through what is perceived as positive behavior? It’s the over-achiever…
Many of us have memories – some fond, some awkward – of those times when our parents sat us down to discuss sex and sexuality. For some, information from these moments was expanded on through formal education during our middle…
When my son Charles was nine, I found a collection of candy wrappers under his bed and I cried. Substance use disorder ran on both sides of the family, and I knew that his stash of sweets meant he had…
