Adolescents

In collaboration with The Reach Institute, Dr. Wallace explains how parents can decrease the impact of anxiety on children and teens to help them function their best and find more joy in their lives.
Now that telehealth and in-person services are available, what are important factors for clinicians, youth, and families to consider?
The headlines and the CDC report are indeed alarming, but they should serve as a wakeup call to all of us. Yes, we should think seriously about why we are seeing a steep decline in the mental health of teenage girls, but we have to come together now as parents, family, friends, educators, clinicians, providers, and as a society to support, enhance and establish more preventive measures for our youth.
It is easy to experience holiday season FOMO and imagine everyone else is out there celebrating with friends and family, delighting in their picture perfect moments while you are just getting through your days. Check out these action steps you can take to experience YOUR best life.
Residential facilities can provide a safe, structured, and treatment-oriented environment for children who need temporary care outside of the home or community. To ensure you find the right placement for your child, we recommend asking the center or facility that you are considering some important questions about their program, best practices, and regulations.
The digital natives we child-focused clinicians work with are simply incredible. Not only do they know their way around technology far better than many adults, but they’re also often fluid with their identity: openly embracing either their or their peers’ diverse ancestry, gender identity, sexual orientation, religions, family background, financial standing, as well as neurodivergence and disabilities in themselves and others.
If your child has seen coverage of such an event, make sure you talk with them about what they think about it and how they think it impacts their life and the world around them.  
The most common rituals for this form of OCD is confessing thoughts to parents and seeking reassurance.  While this is the most distressing part for parents, the good news is that if the parents are involved, they can help their children.
Gratitude may be especially helpful for kids and teens who suffer from symptoms of anxiety and depression, given its ability to improve symptoms associated with both of these categories of mental health disorders.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been identified as a significant factor in the deterioration of mental health in children, but the long-term effects of COVID-19 on children's mental health has yet to be seen.