A Fresh Start at School

Teenagers often speak freely and enthusiastically about starting a new year at school. They psyche themselves up and say that this year will be different. The grades, the friends, the activities it’s all going to be way better! For the first few weeks of school they walk around energetic and expectant and then they feel it. It’s just another school year with similar friends, similar grades, similar good things, and similar bad things. They become discouraged and slump back into the norm.

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Miami Heat's Greg Oden Battled Depression & Alcoholism

The Miami Heat’s newest player Greg Oden appeared destined for greatness from an early age. He was one of the most recruited basketball players in high school, ultimately choosing Ohio State. In his one year at Ohio State he led his team to the NCAA championship game and was the 2007 first overall selection in the NBA draft to the Portland Trailblazers. What could possibly go wrong? What followed was not supposed to happen, not to people on the fast track to success like Greg Oden. The passing of a good friend, the pressure to succeed, three devastating knee injuries, a sexting scandal, the tragic death of his dog, losing his cousin to cancer, and being cut by the Portland Trail Blazers is an unimaginable emotional burden to be dealt to a kid in his 20s trying to live out his dream.

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Back to School For Parents & Teens

While back to school may be a welcomed relief, it comes with its own unique challenges as a parent. Any kind of transition involving teenagers is never easy. Believe it or not, the first day of school will be just as stressful for them as it is for you. So what can you do to relieve some stress and make this an easier transition?

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Teenagers Want Parents Who Set Rules

The best parenting: firm with rules and open emotionally It happens, but very rarely. A sensitive and intelligent teenager articulates what most teenagers are can’t, “I want my parents to be strict with me.” I often witness a big irony when it comes to parenting teenagers: if you give them everything they want, they will resent you for it. Because in giving them everything they want, you’re not giving them what they need. Teenagers need consistent rules, they need you to be firm, and they need to be frustrated by healthy limits to prepare them for the real world. For many teenagers, getting everything they want creates a sense of lack of preparedness and fear that they won’t be able to succeed in life.

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Parent’s Guide to Rewarding and Punishing Teenagers

Parents are often curious about what I think about their way of disciplining their teenagers. They often want to know if they are doing something wrong, especially if they feel that what they are doing is not working. As a teen counselor, here’s how I like to think about punishments and rewards. There are three basic behavioral rules to keep in mind when disciplining a teenager...

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