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Teen Issues

Suicide Prevention
Supporting Your Teen Through Suicidal Struggles: Why CAMS Can Make a Difference
September 22, 2025

As a mental health professional trained in the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) protocol, I specialize in helping teens and adolescents navigate one of the most difficult challenges they—and their families—may ever face: suicidal thoughts and behaviors....

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Teen Issues
How to Listen to Teens
August 25, 2025

Teenagers often feel misunderstood by their parents, and parents feel like communicating with teenagers can be a mystery. When parents punish their teens, they may feel like it is the only consequence that makes sense. Based on the book,...

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Teen Issues
The Procrastination Effect
August 11, 2025

Procrastination is a common issue that all of us deal with throughout our lives. It is human nature to push things off that are unpleasant, boring, or mundane. This problem can be especially difficult for middle and high school...

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Parents & Parenting
How to Talk to Your Teen – Part 1
January 24, 2025

Recently, I became a parent to a teenager. Now, I have been his parent his whole life. However, I understand that our communication needs to evolve from how I spoke to him when he was 3 and how I...

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Teen Issues
Teens and Social Media Usage
January 24, 2025

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for people under 24 in the U.S. and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Report from 2023 found that 20% of the country’s 12–17-year-olds have had at least one major depressive...

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Children
The Anxious Generation: Book Review
January 23, 2025

If you have ever thought… Kids these days are always on their phones! My middle schooler never spends time with any friends in person. Taking my high schooler’s phone as a consequence causes more problems than it’s worth. Why...

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Teen Issues
Understanding ADHD in Teens
October 11, 2024

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. The essential feature of ADHD is a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity...

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Teen Issues
The Importance of “Mattering” to Teens
October 11, 2024

I recently read the book “Never Enough” by Jennifer Breheny Wallace, which dives into achievement culture among adolescents and how it contributes to mental health concerns like anxiety and depression. Through my own school-based counseling work with high school...

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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
Creating a Values-Based Summer Plan
March 26, 2024

One of the tenets of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is identifying your values, or the things that are most important to you, and taking action steps toward living out those values in your everyday life. With the semester...

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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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Teen Issues
How Teenagers Can Find Connection
October 10, 2023

This generation’s teenagers have more ways to be connected than any previous generation. Whether it’s through social media, texting, or Facetime, today’s adolescents have more avenues of connecting than any other generation could have dreamed about. Despite all the...

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Parents & Parenting
Tips for Managing Conflict with Your Teenager
August 28, 2023

In this vlog, Madeline shares practical advice and proven strategies for effectively navigating conflicts with your teenager. From open communication to setting boundaries, join us as we empower parents with the tools they need to foster understanding and strengthen...

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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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Parents & Parenting
Setting Screen Time with your Kids and Teens
June 13, 2023

Screens are now an essential part of our daily lives whether you are an adult or child. Children and teens now must use either computers or tablets while at school to get work done, do learning activities, and turn...

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Mental Health
CDC Reports Increasing Mental Health Challenges for U.S. Teens
May 5, 2023

by Cathy Murphy, Director of Community Outreach According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we are continuing to see a trend of declining mental health among our teens. The data showed more...

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Mental Health
The New Status Quo: Adjusting for the Mental Health of Our Students
August 11, 2022

School is one of our biggest socializing agents in American society. Some would say it’s a catalyst for social growth and an exercise in the critical understanding of the world. I think it’s safe to say there are a...

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Mental Health
Improving Self-Esteem by Practicing Positive Affirmations Daily
May 9, 2022

A helpful, but not always easy, way to improve feelings of self-worth is the daily practice of positive affirmations. I like to use affirmations as a mental exercise, getting the mind into healthy shape. Positive Affirmations are helpful in...

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Teen Issues
Help to Control Test Anxiety
March 31, 2022

When a big test is coming up it is normal to feel nervous, especially if you know that the test is going to count for a huge percentage of your final grade. When we feel anxious, we may experience...

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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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