Awareness | Adolescent Counseling Services

Do Not Expect a Stress Free Holiday Season

in Anxiety / Parent Tips / Parenting / Stress / Teaching Mindfulness / Teens and holidays / Uncategorized by Lindsey Leason December 23, 2014January 27, 2022 0 comments

image: Adam Lederer By: Ana Jimenez Adolescent Counseling Services’ Intern The holidays are here! The holidays are here! Lights everywhere, food and family! For the young, the best part is school is out! Others are off work. It is December, the time when families celebrate holidays like Christmas, Hanukah, or Kwannza. When we think about the holidays, […]

Internet Gaming Addiction: Perspectives From a Former Gamer

in Gaming Addiction / Internet gaming disorder / Risky Behaviour by Lindsey Leason December 9, 2014January 27, 2022 0 comments

Image:Federico Morando “internet addiction” By: Evan Sahn After-School Counseling Program Intern Internet gaming disorder (IGD) represents a relatively new and growing phenomenon in the fields of mental health and video games. IGD is new largely because the ability to utilize the Internet to play addicting video games has only existed for about 15 years. In […]

Executive Function and Substance Use

in Adolescent Brain / Behavioral Norms / Drugs & Alcohol / Mental Health / Risky Behaviour by Lindsey Leason November 18, 2014January 27, 2022 0 comments

Image: CC0 Public Domain By: JoAnn Kukulus, MS Clinical Psychology; MFT Intern ACS Outpatient Counseling Services I went to the gym, got the kids off to school, walked the dog, and am now ready to head to work on time. As I’m reaching into the refrigerator to grab my lunch I receive a phone call from the […]

Co-Occurring Disorders: Treatment

in Alcoholism / Co-Occuring Disorders / Cocaine / Depression / Drinking / Drugs & Alcohol / Heroin / Marijuana / Mental Health / mental illness / Molly-Ecstasy / Other / Post Traumatic Stress Disorder / Prescription Drugs / Recovery / Sleep / Stress / Treatment by acsteens July 15, 2014January 27, 2022 0 comments

By: JoAnn Kukulus, M.S. Clinical Psychology BBS Registered Intern at Adolescent Counseling Services Part II of blog series on Co-Occurring Disorders Read Part I: Co-Occurring Disorders: Diagnosis Regardless of which issue presented first, mental health or alcohol/substance abuse, recovery depends on acknowledging and treating both the alcohol/substance abuse and the mental health issue. The most […]

What is “Palcohol”?

in Bingeing / Drinking / Drugs & Alcohol / Marijuana / Palcohol by acsteens May 15, 2014January 27, 2022 0 comments

By: Beverly Reyes ACS Intern in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/palcohol-powdered-alcohol-may-present-serious-health-risks/ A new product going by the brand name Palcohol got a rush of media attention this week. Palcohol is simply freeze-dried alcohol in powder form, packaged in small packets that promise an easy way to take a stiff drink on the go. Some health […]

Did you know it’s “National Catch Your Teen Doing Something Right” Month?

in Parent Role Models / Parent Tips / Parent-Teen Communication / Parenting by acsteens April 3, 2014January 27, 2022 0 comments

By Merrett Sheridan, LMFT Site Director at Palo Alto High School Ok so I made that up, but why not? Ask yourself when was the last time you gave your teen a truly heartfelt “atta boy” for something significant and for no reason other than to make them feel good? By significant I don’t mean thanking them […]

Teens and Parties

in Drinking / Drugs & Alcohol / Parent Tips / Parent-Teen Communication / Parenting / Setting Boundaries / Teaching Mindfulness / Teen Partying by acsteens March 20, 2014January 27, 2022 0 comments

By: JoAnn Kukulus, MS, MFTI ACS Intern When our children were young, we parents had a hand in just about everything they did. We took on the responsibility of organizing and structuring their time in such a way that we knew what they were doing each minute of each day. If we couldn’t actually oversee the […]

Erasing the Stigma of Mental Illness

in Depression / Disorders / Mental Health / mental illness / Stigma by acsteens March 6, 2014January 27, 2022 0 comments

by Katie Luce, LMFT Site Director of Jordan Middle School and Redwood Continuation High School Stigma regarding mental illness is an issue that needs to be addressed, even in our educated and progressive community. We must be careful about the words we use, especially in front of our children, and work to educate others in […]

What do teens want from their parents?

in Parent Tips / Parent-Teen Communication / Parenting / Teaching Mindfulness by acsteens December 10, 2013January 27, 2022 0 comments

By: Charlotte Villemoes, LMFT ACS On-Campus Counseling Site Director at Woodside High School Before I make a call home to a parent, I always ask the teen I have been seeing if they have any messages for mom and dad that they would like me to deliver. They always do. Most of the time the message […]

Who’s In Your Teen’s Village?

in Parent Role Models / Parent Tips / Parent-Teen Communication / Parenting / Parenting Village by acsteens November 5, 2013January 27, 2022 0 comments

by Martha Chan, LMFT Site Director at Terman Middle School By now the saying that “It takes a village to raise a child” has entered our language, but what does it mean for the parents of teenagers? When our children enter adolescence, one of their primary developmental tasks is to branch out beyond the immediate family […]