If you are the parent of a teen in therapy, you may have questions about confidentiality with your teen's therapist. Here are the 9 most common reasons why parent's want to reach out to their kids' therapist, why it doesn't work, and the better ways to handle each situation, which is almost always to include your child in the conversation with their therapist. Implementing these tips will help protect confidentiality with your teen's therapist.
Why Inpatient Treatment is not ALWAYS the best solution: When unsafe emotions and behaviors like suicidal ideation and self harm arise, the first line of defense is often mental health hospitalization. This makes sense when our lives, or the life of someone close to us, are in danger. And we are taught that hospitals have healthcare providers to keep us safe. This is true! And thank goodness for our healthcare providers! However, research shows that when it comes to a mental health crises, inpatient hospitalizations increase the likelihood that unsafe behaviors will occur repeatedly.
I recently met with a group of young adults from Towson University to talk about the stigma surrounding mental health and therapy. As the students asked questions and shared their perspectives, two words continued to come up: Anxiety and Depression. It took me a little while to notice that this conversation was creating the illusion. It is a myth is that you must be either anxious or depressed to go to therapy. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There are limitless reasons why therapy can be beneficial to young adults. You don't have to just have anxiety and depression. Therapy could be useful to someone experiencing any number of concerns (or no pressing concerns at all)!
I am going to make a sweeping generalization: People in the DMV love the start of Fall. My theory? Because the weather finally gets cool and walking outside doesn’t feel like you are still in the humidity of a hot shower. I hate to sound like a Pinterest board (no real knock on Pinterest, I… Continue reading Fall Reflections from a Therapist
Phone coaching is meant to support you coping with in-the-moment problems that arise between therapy sessions. Your DBT therapist will encourage the you to utilize phone coaching to prevent the problem behaviors you are working on. Instead, with phone coaching, you can practice using the tools learning in session by using them in real life situations.
Dating can provide an opportunity to create shared meaning with your partner. It allows you to share your interests and try new things together. Whether you’ve been together for a few weeks or a few decades, dating is important in relationships. Carving out intentional time to spend together is important.
I am not, never was, nor ever will be a world-class athlete. But I do relate to the ebb and flow of balancing movement & exercise with the other parts that make my life whole and complete. In the end, I do view body movement as an important part of what energizes me, and ultimately improves my mental health. What follows are some ways in which research has found body movement and exercise to be helpful for mental health.
s businesses and companies begin to reopen, some therapists have been offering in-person sessions. If you are already receiving therapy or would like to start therapy, you may be asking yourself, “Do I want to do in-person therapy or do I want to do online therapy?” At the end of the day, this decision is based on your preferences and what is best for you. And it is helpful to know more about your options. So let’s go over the benefits of online therapy more specifically.
Therapists!! We are entering our busiest season. Let's take a moment to remember the self-care we need to keep ourselves going! As therapists we hear so often that we need to do self-care. It comes in the same sentence as a long list of things to add to our to-do list. From school to supervision to independent practice, self-care is a concept we know should be integrating into our daily lives. But for some reason, this seems to always get pushed off till tomorrow.
