After-school Alcohol Education Program for Middle School Ages Shows Positive Results

The age at which children begin drinking is surprising. According to a pamphlet distributed by the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse, “by 8th grade, 38.9% of American children have tried alcohol and 17.9% of 8th graders have been drunk at least once.”  To combat these percentages Elizabeth D’Amico, a psychologist who has been […]

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From the Inside-Life As An ACS Intern

By: Ildiko Ran On-Campus Counseling Program Intern at Menlo-Atherton High School “I feel so much better that I got all that off my chest. I can go back to class now” – said one of my clients after a session when she unloaded the overwhelming stress that surrounds her everyday life. She keeps up the […]

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How Can Parents Positively Affect Their Teens Self-Image

A really great website for parents and teens is Radical Parenting which has “parenting advice written by teens.” One of the resources this site provides is a licensed psychologist, Dr. Allison Agliata, who is an onsite school counselor in Florida. She writes a Q&A section for the website and from time to time provides articles. […]

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How to Choose the Best Therapist for Your Teenager

According to the website About.com, a website that offers expert advice and quality content that helps users find solutions to a wide range of daily needs – from parenting, health care and technology to cooking, travel and many others, there are some things to know before choosing a therapist for your adolescent son/daughter. Expert Kathryn […]

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Everything You Wanted To Say To Your Middle Schooler, But Didn’t Know How-Part V Conclusion

By: Philippe Rey, Psy.D. Executive Director of Adolescent Counseling Services Concluding our conversation about middle schoolers, and how to better prepare your child and yourself for this period of life; let us look at other topics of conversation that might be awkward or difficult to address: –        Music –        Depression and Suicide –        Tattoos –        […]

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Menlo-Atherton Parent Education Series

Make sure to mark your calendars for this Thursday, February 2nd at 7pm the Menlo-Atherton Parent Education Series will be holding a panel on Teen Sexuality: Get the Facts (What Every Parent Wants to Know). Where:Menlo Atherton Center for the Performing Arts (PAC) located on the Menlo-Atherton High School campus. Come hear from the experts! […]

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New Study Shows Decrease in Mid-schooler Problem Behaviours When Parents are Given Guidance Before the Child Enters Middle-schoosl

At Adolescent Counseling Services, one of our key philosophies is that when the entire family is involved in resolving an issue faced by an adolescent, the outcome is positive and lasting. A recent study published in the February 2012  Journal of Adolescent Health put this theory to test. The study“Engaging Parents in the Family Check-Up […]

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Teens, Brains and Behavior

by Debbie Landi LCSW Site Director at Jordan Middle School As parents of kids in middle and high school, we can often feel confused by their behavior and expression of emotions.  We may think they reached a certain point of maturity in their emotional and social life in elementary school and are then morphed into […]

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National Cancer Institute Speaks Directly to Teens Using Texting and Social Media Technology

Most adults know by now that smoking cigarettes is caustic to our health, partially because of the warning information printed on cigarette boxes and the intense media buzz provided by anti-smoking agencies and the United States government. Despite all that we know about the dangers of smoking, the prospect of smoking nicotine cigarettes is still […]

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Everything You Wanted To Say To Your Middle Schooler, But Didn’t Know How-Part IV

By Philippe Rey, Psy. D. Executive Director of Adolescent Counseling Services So now that we have a good idea about what is really going on with drugs and alcohol, let’s look at more ways we can help our teens. As I mentioned last week, as parents your task is to encourage choice. That means that […]

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