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Social Skills and Peer Relationships

Children
A Kid’s Guide to Expressing Feelings
September 3, 2025

How are you feeling today? This is a question we hear often. But what is the answer? Some feelings are easy to understand while others are confusing and not as easy to understand and express. We can also feel...

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Mental Health
Understanding the Difference Between Self-Harm and Suicidal Ideation
August 29, 2025

When discussing self-harm and suicidal ideation, it’s important to understand that while both may involve significant emotional pain, they are not the same. These experiences have different underlying functions, levels of risk, and clinical implications—and understanding those differences can...

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Teen Issues
A Guide to Overcoming Academic Pressure as a Teen
September 26, 2024

Going back to school can be a stressful time for teenagers who struggle with academic pressure. Between balancing homework, tests, extracurricular activities, and social lives, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Academic stress can be the result of parental pressure,...

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Teen Issues
7 Tips for Navigating Peer Relationships as a Teenager
February 26, 2024

Let’s talk about something that may be on your mind: peer relationships. Whether you’re in college, high school, or middle school navigating social dynamics and friendships can sometimes be a challenge. I’ve got some helpful tips to assist you...

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Mental Health
The Fewest Words
January 16, 2024

As a therapist, but also a human being who was not blessed with the most loving of families growing up, I find myself often giving to others more than I give back to myself. Like so many others, I...

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Parents & Parenting
My Child is Struggling with Their Body Image – How Can I Help Them?
January 3, 2024

Anyone can struggle with body image; Research shows that children as young as 3 years old can have body image concerns. As a therapist who works with children and teens, this question comes up a lot from parents. And...

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Teen Issues
Friendship Deal Breakers
July 24, 2023

Are you in middle school or high school? Does making friends in the beginning of the school year stress you out? There is a lot of anxiety that exists today around making friends at school. Some concerns include “where...

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Young Adult Issues
The Importance of Community for Young Adults
March 14, 2023

As a society, we are lonelier than we’ve ever been. According to a study from the Survey Center on American Life in 2019, almost 50% of all Americans reported having less than 3 close friends, up from 25% reporting...

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Social Skills
The Spectrum of Blackness
February 6, 2023

By Mollie Innocent-Cupid, Deputy Executive Director In my last blog (Reflections of Colorblindness), I shared my reflections about seeing color. I asked some questions of you, specifically around how acknowledging or omitting race impact your shared personal and professional...

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Social Skills
Reflections of Colorblindness
February 6, 2023

By Mollie Innocent-Cupid, Deputy Executive Director As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, I always find the urge to remind myself that Black History is American History. And if I’m being honest, and if I had it my...

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Social Skills
Building Confidence 101
April 12, 2022

Looking back at my own experiences as a young female and those of the females around me, including clients, friends, and my younger sister, I wish that “Building Confidence 101” was a course I could have taken at some...

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Teen Issues
Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month: A Q&A with Summit Therapists
February 18, 2022

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. According to the National Institute of Justice, teen dating violence includes physical, psychological or sexual abuse; harassment; or stalking of any person ages 12 to 18 in the context of a past...

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Social Skills
Effective Communication Style: Listening Skills
January 6, 2022

In the previous blog, points were shared about ways we can practice responding in conversation versus reacting to others based on heightened emotions. A precursor to responding in healthy ways to de-escalate emotional settings is cultivating effective listening skills....

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Mental Health
Is This Normal?
November 4, 2021

One of my favorite quotes on relationships is: “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one” by C.S. Lewis. Friendships, and relationships in general, can...

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Social Skills
How to Take Time Away from Your Phone
November 2, 2021

2009: I had a flip phone. It was only my second year using a phone, but I was obsessed with it- the way it felt in my hand, the rhythm of flipping it open to text, even just the comfort of having...

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Social Skills
Effective Communication Style: Learning to Respond versus React
October 1, 2021

One of the best effective communication skills that I have learned in relationship with others is how to practice responding versus reacting. When we begin to understand the difference between responding and reacting, our self-awareness and ability to self-regulate...

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Families
Is Social Media “Influencing” Our Youth?
October 1, 2021

Social media: something that has become impossible for some of us to live without. Especially the teens in our life. Social media is a great way to stay connected, this past year has proved that. But how much is...

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Families
Building Boundaries
September 2, 2021

Learning and understanding how to build boundaries with your family, peers and coworkers is essential to forming healthy relationships. Having healthy boundaries with others can look different for each relationship you have in your life. Having more rigid boundaries with...

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Jordan R. Yates
COVID-19 Reentering Reminders Regarding Relationships
June 23, 2021

As COVID cases go down and vaccination shots go up, so many of us have already experienced the joys of re-experiencing social interactions. But, in the same vein, others have been reminded of the not-so-good side of social engagement...

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Childhood Issues
What is the Origin of Bullying and How to Handle It
July 6, 2020

The word bully has become a big topic in recent years and there is a lot of different information on how to handle it. With increasing technology and the school environment, children deal with more opportunities for bullying every...

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