Mental Health

Alternative Coping Strategies for Teens Turning to Drugs to Reduce Anxiety and Stress

in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment / Anxiety / Co-Occuring Disorders / Depression / E-News / Mental Health / Stress / Stress Management  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Written By: Ann M. Stillingfleet, ACS Clinical Intern, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Community Counseling Programs Image: Torben Hansen, Marijuana Joint   We all too often hear teens tell us that anxiety and stress are their most persistent issues at home, in school, with peers and with their perception of themselves.  We also hear the […]

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How Mindfulness Meditation Can Help Relieve Stress

in Academic Stress / Anxiety / E-News / Mental Health / Parent Tips / Parenting / Stress Management / Teaching Mindfulness  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

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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Positive Communication between Teens and Parents

in After-School Counseling / Behavioral Norms / E-News / Mental Health / Parent Role Models / Parent Tips / Parent-Teen Communication / Parenting  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

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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Saving Jake: A Family Memoir of Opioid Addiction

in Co-Occuring Disorders / Drugs & Alcohol / E-News / Mental Health / Upcoming Events  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

* 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 E-News / Mental Health / Stigma / Suicide / Suicide Prevention  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

  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?

in E-News / Intern / Mental Health / Parenting / Teen self-esteem  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

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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Salinas High Crowns its first Transgender Prom Queen

in Bullying / E-News / Gender identity / LGBTQ Issues / Outlet / Stigma / Transgender  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Image: Crowns for the Cause, Effie Horning Interview by: Roberto M. Robledo    In an interview with The Salinas Californian, the 18-year-old related her story of transition. It is a story of hardship, violence, hatred, love, joy, tears, laughter, pride and acceptance. •The Salinas Californian: When did you become Angie? Angie Esteban:“I kind of already […]

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A Different Method to Coping with Stress in High School Academics

in Academic Stress / Anxiety / E-News  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Image: CollegeDegrees360, Stressed Student  Author: Mayra Vargas, MFTI, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program   It’s not news that academics have become a stressful full-time job for teens as they compete to be the best of the best for the top colleges in the country. This may cause stress, anxiety, and/or depression due to the overwhelming feelings of trying to […]

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Stressed Out? Music is the Cure!

in Academic Stress / Anxiety / E-News / Mental Health / Stress / Stress Management / Uncategorized  by Lindsey Leason 0 comments

Image: Stephen McLeod Blythe – Muzak Stephanie Olano ACS Outpatient Counseling Program Clinical Intern Music has played a very important role in my life. From the time I was 10-years-old I could list the various bands that were heavily influenced by The Beatles. Adults found this impressive, but I found this knowledge strange and confusing because they […]

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Stress management for beginners – and the rest of us!

in Stress / Stress Management  by Lindsey Leason 0 comments

Image: Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho By Charlotte Villemoes, LMFT On-Campus Counseling Program Site Director, Woodside High School Every day, all of us experience some sort of stress. Most of the teens I meet in my private and professional life will at some point talk about how stressed they are; they talk about feeling overwhelmed by school demands, […]

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