Why so Few Hospital Beds for Teens? – May 22, 2015

 by Elena Kadvany / Palo Alto Weekly      Fri, May 22, 2015 The absence of adolescent inpatient psychiatric beds in Santa Clara County — described by one Palo Alto child and adolescent psychiatrist as a “hospitalization crisis” — is actually the norm rather than the exception in California. The number of counties without inpatient […]

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Domestic Violence Among Teens

Written By Evan Sahn, ACS Clinical Intern, Adolescent Substance Abuse & Community Counseling Programs Domestic violence has recently become a more visible crime as survivors of assault are frequently more willing to report their perpetrators to the police.  Even with this increased visibility, stories of domestic violence in the media have been centered almost entirely […]

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How Mindfulness Meditation Can Help Relieve Stress

By:  Katie Luce, LMFT, ACS School Site Supervisor Image: Placid Children and adolescents may have fewer responsibilities than their parents, but childhood and the teen years can still be one of the most stressful periods in life. The demands of school, homework, extracurricular activities, and even daily family living can make children and adolescents feel overwhelmed […]

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LGBTQ History Month – A Review!

Complied by:  Outlet Program staff in partnership with Youth Space    In celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month, Outlet and the LGBTQ Youth Space have collaborated to celebrate and highlight important LGBTQ+ historical figures and their contributions to events that have positively impacted the LGBTQQ+ community worldwide. Why is LGBTQ History Month Important? It is a month […]

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Positive Communication between Teens and Parents

By: Mayra Vargas, ACS Intern, Community Counseling Program Communication between adolescents and parents is one of the most difficult things in the realm of family relationships. Adolescents in the teen stage begin to explore and experiment with their own identities, and that can sometimes cause a shift in the parent-adolescent relationship. Sometimes, parents don’t know how to communicate with […]

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Revisiting the “Tiger Mother” Phenomenon

Written By:  German Cheung, Psy D.  |  ACS Site Supervisor, Terman Middle School    “Tiger Mother,” a term that was hugely popularized by Amy Chua’s article in the Wall Street Journal in 2011, titled, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior,” describes how parents hold suffocatingly high expectations for their child that often lead to conflicts in […]

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Saving Jake: A Family Memoir of Opioid Addiction

* Author D’Anne Burwell will be a featured speaker at an ACS Educational Symposium March 5th, 2016 covering Substance Abuse Issues and Treatment.  D’Anne is a local Bay Area author, speaker and mentor; frequenting addiction recovery meetings and working tirelessly in the community to raise awareness about drug crises. Below is a review of her newly […]

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World Suicide Prevention Day 2015

  In recognizing World Suicide Prevention Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) highlight ways to be aware of those at risk of suicide and how to help them get to lifesaving help.   Reaching out to those at risk of suicide According to the recently released World Health Organization (WHO) […]

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What’s Self-Esteem Got to Do With It?

By: JoAnn Kukulus, MS Clinical Psychology/MFTI, ACS Clinical Intern If esteem (as in “my esteemed colleagues…”) is the value and worth one applies to people, places, and situations then it naturally follows that ‘self-esteem’ is the value and worth an individual applies to herself or himself.  We can frame a picture of how we feel […]

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