Oppositional Defiance Disorder: A Breakdown

Written By: Alex Basche, ACS Clinical Intern, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment & Community Counseling Programs   Through my work in ACS’ Substance Abuse Treatment program, it is not uncommon to see co-occurring behavioral disorders in youth struggling with substance abuse. Anxiety, mood and behavioral disorders top the list of the most common adolescent mental health diagnoses, so […]

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Understanding differences in mental health symptoms in the LGBTQ community

Reported By: News-Medical  |  Study By: Drexel University  A study exploring the prevalence of mental health symptoms in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning (LGBQ) community, found that the oft-overlooked questioning and bisexual youth face their own significant challenges, particularly when it comes to depression, anxiety and traumatic distress. “I think the failure to include […]

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Probing The Complexities Of Transgender Mental Health

Written By:  Tara Haelle, for NPR Experiencing the world as a different gender than the one assigned you at birth can take a toll. Nearly all research into transgender individuals’ mental health shows poorer outcomes. A new study looking specifically at transgender women, predominantly women of color, only further confirms that reality. What’s less clear, […]

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Is the Change in Weather Making You Feel SAD?

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 […]

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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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A Parent’s Guide to Teen Depression

Source: http://www.pamfblog.org/ Meg Durbin, M.D. a board-certified internist and pediatrician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Although being moody and irritable is often normal for teenagers, depression is not simply a side effect of growing up. Depression is a serious medical condition that affects approximately one in five teens before they reach adulthood and is the leading […]

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Co-Occurring Disorders: Treatment

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 […]

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Cultivating Mastery and Success WITH Your Teen

by Chris Chiochios, LMFT, Site Director at JLS Middle School With so much emphasis on achievement and concern about our children being prepared and “ready” to enter adulthood and be “successful”, there is a hidden cost that many youth can experience.  This cost involves developing a mindset that becomes fixed on what success means and […]

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Erasing the Stigma of Mental Illness

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 […]

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May 9th is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day

May 9th, 2013 is the National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day and SAMHSA wants everyone to participate. National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day is a key strategy of the Caring for Every Child’s Mental Health Campaign, which is part of the Public Awareness and Support Strategic Initiative by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services […]

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