Mental Health

ACS Practices Mindfulness!

in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment / Co-Occuring Disorders / Community Counseling / Drugs & Alcohol / E-News / Mental Health / Parent Tips / Prevention / Recovery / Treatment  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Written By: JoAnn Kukulus, MFTI   |  ACS’ Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program & Community Counseling Program Recently I had the opportunity to become trained and certified to implement a group and individual curriculum called “Mindfulness-Based Substance Abuse Treatment for Adolescents,” which the ACS programs are beginning to utilize.  This relatively new evidence-based curriculum, founded by Sam Himelstein […]

Read More ›

Understanding and Coping with Anxiety

in Anxiety / E-News / Mental Health / On-Campus Counseling / Stress / Stress Management  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Written By:  Deborah Sloss, LCSW  |  ACS Site Supervisor, On-Campus Counseling Program  Most of us have experienced anxiety at some point in our lives. Some people even feel a moderate amount of anxiety spurs them to action.  However, for others, anxiety can start to interfere with their day-to-day functioning.  According to the National Institute of […]

Read More ›

Is the Change in Weather Making You Feel SAD?

in Disorders / E-News / Mental Health  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

By: Christine Miller, ACS Clinical Intern, Community Counseling Program and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program   Have you ever noticed that your friends, family, children, or even yourself, feel “down” when the days grow shorter and the weather becomes colder? Maybe you feel irritable, sad, experience a change in appetite or sleeping patterns, or have […]

Read More ›

Dear Parents: Being a “Good” Parent is Not About Being Perfect!

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

Written By: Kelly Sumner, LMFT, ACS On-Campus Counseling Program Site Supervisor     I need to start here by acknowledging that I am not a parent and thus do not understand first hand the pressure parents face to raise their children into well-adjusted, successful, happy, moralistic, responsible members of society in today’s world. It’s a […]

Read More ›

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 […]

Read More ›

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 […]

Read More ›

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 […]

Read More ›

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 […]

Read More ›

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) […]

Read More ›

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 […]

Read More ›