Many youth who’ve been impacted by trauma are resistant to therapy. Their self-protective behaviors and reactions are often misperceived as deliberately rebellious or disruptive. Because of this misunderstanding, the therapist may become angry, frustrated, anxious, or uncomfortable. These types of reactions tend to make the youth feel even less safe and therefore more aggressive or …

2 Tips for Working with Resistance and Traumatic Adaptations Read More »

Very early in my career, I began co-facilitating Mindfulness-Based Substance Abuse groups, with no training in how to lead groups of youth. My partner and I went from one extreme to the other, lecturing the first cohort and then having free-flowing discussions with the next cohort. We gradually realized that the groups were much more …

4 Different Approaches to Leading Groups of Youth Read More »

The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily and not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet. Kitchen Table Wisdom, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, p. 52 2020 was an overwhelming year for anyone who works in health care, counseling, …

4 Tips for Coping with Burnout and Exhaustion Read More »

I don’t think there’s a youth anywhere in the world who isn’t having a hard time these days. The question isn’t whether they’re suffering, but how severely, and what we can do to help. The challenge is that caring adults were already overwhelmed, even before the triple whammy of COVID-19, the protests for social justice, …

4 Tips for Helping Youth During Times of Crisis and Confusion Read More »

Youth that fall under the category of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) can experience trauma just like their non-disabled peers, contrary to the belief of some. In fact, children with IDD appear to be at an increased risk for physical abuse, physical restraint and seclusion, sexual abuse, and emotional neglect. When trauma occurs with children …

3 Tips for Working with Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Trauma Read More »

Those of us who work with trauma-impacted youth also have to deal with our own trauma and stress. On top of the stressful nature of the work itself, we’ve all been impacted by our own life events. Over the years, I’ve worked with countless professionals who’ve gone through divorces, have lost family members, or who …

4 Self-Care Tips for Essential Workers During COVID-19 Read More »

These are challenging times for all of us. We each have a unique set of circumstances, depending on our family situation, the nature of our work, and the conditions in our local communities. On the other hand, there are a few themes that are pretty much universal at this point: confusion, distress, and lack of …

3 Ways Mindfulness Can Help in Crisis Situations Read More »

This past week life on our planet has been significantly disrupted. Earlier this week the area where I personally live was put on a shelter in place order and toward the end of the week the state Governor had issued a statewide stay at home order to stop the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Weddings …

3 Steps to Build Resilience and Practice Self-Care for Helping Professionals in Uncertain Times Read More »

The above photo shows the type of stereotypical image that’s often used to illustrate ‘mindfulness’ or ‘meditation.’ To be fair, it can be challenging to find an image that accurately represents an abstract idea, like a state of awareness. But it’s important to do our best not to spread inaccurate depictions of mindfulness. Three typical …

Three Dangerous Misunderstandings About Mindfulness Read More »

It’s common for adults to tell youth to “stop overreacting.” That’s usually not very helpful, especially if the adult is yelling at them to calm down! It’s much more effective to be a good role model of skillfully responding, and to teach them what’s going on in their brains and how they can self-regulate when …

4 Ways to Help Teens Cope with Strong Emotions Read More »