Putting A Stop to Self-Harm
As parents, the first thing we want in the world is for our children to be safe. When they are babies, we strap them in car seats and research the best practices for care. When they are young children, we watch them ride a bicycle for the first time with a helmet, training wheels, and protective pads. It is our instinct to protect them, and
A Guide For Parents: How To Help Your Teen With Mental Health Struggles
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health struggles in children and adolescents have reached an all-time high in the past year. Uncertainty around what the future will look like from everything to how kids go to school to how they are able to interact with their friends caused a spike in anxiety, and missing out on important life events such as prom, high school graduation,
How We Help Students with Video Game & Technology Addiction in the Wilderness
https://youtu.be/SLTdRq0r9hs Parents of Trails students often convey that video games are becoming a concerning problem in their children’s lives. Often, it’s gotten to the point that the games are more important than the relationships within the family. This is echoed by what we’re seeing in clinical discourse overall. We’ve seen many similarities between an individual’s addiction to video games and addiction to substance use, gambling addiction,
The Pandemic’s Affects on Mental Health In Teens
The negative impact the mental health crisis has had on teens has been growing steadily over the past decade, and these effects have been compounded by the pandemic. For the millions of American children that are struggling with developmental, behavioral, or emotional disorders, they rely on treatment that the pandemic has made it nearly impossible to receive. How the pandemic has had detrimental effects on teen
Wilderness Therapy for Teen Boys: How Rock Climbing Can Help Teens Struggling with Behavioral Issues
I work with adolescent boys who are often struggling with issues like substance use, technology addiction, depression or anxiety. Many of these issues lead to additional struggles in the classroom. I work with many students who are “thrill-seekers”. Thrill-seeking students show up in the classroom distracted, bored, and ready to leave the classroom. They may have some underlying educational issues if they have an underlying
Teaching Your Son About Mental Health
How many times have we heard: “don’t cry, be a man”, when a young boy is upset? Or “boys will be boys” when an adolescent acts out? These may not seem that harmless in the moment, but let’s think about what hearing that over and over again does to young men? They are taught from a very young age that they shouldn’t show emotions because
The Art of De-Catastrophization: Managing Worst Case Scenario Thinking
Just How Stressed is My Teen? From hurdling issues at home to maintaining friendships and anticipating college applications, teens today cope with a substantial amount of stress and anxiety. Even more unsettling, a recent American Psychological Association study found that most teens greatly underestimate how stress impacts their physical and mental health, despite their reported stress levels surpassing that of many adults. One of the most