Has your family been eating more than you normally do, or eating less healthy foods during quarantine? If you are, you are not alone. The sale of snacks, alcohol and the demand for processed “comfort” foods, like mac and cheese, have increased significantly since March.

Why is this happening?

• Emotional eating. This is when we use food to numb our uncomfortable feelings in an effort to feel better. We are experiencing something we have never experienced before and for many, there is an increase in some challenging emotions such as:
  • Stress
  • Anxiety
  • Worry
  • Boredom
  • Frustration
  • Uncertainty
  • Loneliness
  • Disappointment
  • Anger
  • Sadness

Less structured days. Work and school help us structure our days, so we only eat at certain times. With so many people home and/or not working, the structure is no longer present, and it is very easy to just walk to the kitchen and pantry and grab something without even thinking about it.

• More access to food throughout the day. This...

What’s the Deal with Vaping?

Teen vaping and e-cigarette use is being referred to as an epidemic. Even though it is illegal in all states for anyone to purchase e-cigarettes under the age of 18 or 21, teens are still easily able to access these products. Unlike regular cigarettes, there is not a distinct odor, so teens are able to be very secretive with their use. The manufacturers of these products also target teens, many of whom are misinformed by thinking that e-cigarettes or vaping are not harmful.  

 Harmful effects of e-cigarettes / vaping:

• Vaping can result in a nicotine addiction. Teens are more likely to get addicted because they do not have a fully developed brain.
• There are several additives in e-cigarettes that are known toxins, heavy metals and carcinogens.
• Inhaling the vape liquids can cause serious lung disease.
• There is an increase in teens vaping THC as well as nicotine.
• Even if not becoming addicted to nicotine, using e-cigarettes can become a...

Creating any kind of a change in our lives, whether a change around food habits, exercise or changes in our relationships, can be challenging.  Often, we lose steam because we are not seeing the results we want quickly enough.  How many people give up on diets after a week or two because they have not lost 10 pounds or because they are not fitting into their smaller clothes yet?  This happens to so many of us and it is because creating change can be hard.  We become frustrated and tired and then give up.  It sometimes feels more comfortable to stay in a “stuck mode” rather than invest a lot of time and energy into creating change when you are uncertain about how, if and when the change will occur.

This happens to many parents who want to change their relationship or the dynamic they have with their teenager (or with each other) as well.  Parents become frustrated with the dynamics of their family.  Whether there is too much yelling or...

When addressing your teenager’s behavior (or any child’s behavior for that matter), try to avoid using the following words, “DON’T, NO, STOP, QUIT”.  You may be asking...WHAT???!!!!  Let me explain so that this makes a little more sense.  When addressing your teenager’s behavior, you likely want to extinguish negative behaviors, but you should also want to promote that they engage more in positive behaviors.  When you start your conversation with the above four words…you are automatically putting your attention on the negative behavior you want less while not attending to the positive behavior you want more of.  It seems like a minor difference, but you will get more of what you put your focus and emphasis on.  If you are looking to increase positive behaviors, placing more focus on them will increase the chance that you will see more of them.

For example, instead of saying, “Stop playing games on your...

Most teens are on their electronic devices more than ever right now for several reasons. Boredom is one of them for sure! In addition to boredom, they are on them for schoolwork and as a means of staying connected to others. As a parent, how do you set limits or manage your teen’s screen time during quarantine when it has gone on this long?

I don’t think there is a one size fits all answer for this, however, here are some guidelines that may help.

• Monitor what they are doing. It is still important for parents to monitor screen time for their teens. With younger teens, there should be close monitoring so that you can continue to educate them about the risks associated with social media and make sure they are not putting themselves into situations they will later regret. For older teens, check in with them and insist that you have their password at all time. As their parent, you have a right to their password so that you can check what they are doing as you feel is...

If I asked this question before the days of smart devices, email and social media your answer would likely be “absolutely not”. You would be able to screen any calls coming into your home and protect your child from bullying, however, this is not the case today.

Unfortunately, it is much harder for teens to escape bullying unless they choose to unplug completely and what teen is going to do that? Cyberbullying can be persistent, either with non-stop harassing text messaging or with frequent hurtful, threatening or humiliating social media posts. For a teenager experiencing cyberbullying, home no longer feels like a safe place, even during a quarantine.

The other scary thing about cyberbullying is that once it is out there…it is usually out there forever. It’s easier for bullies to be relentless when they can hide behind a screen and not have to say or do something to their victim in person. While some bullying can be very blatant and obvious, other forms...

Here we go…week #4 of social distancing. When they first announced that schools would close and that everyone who could, should be working at home, did you think we would be going into a week #4, wearing masks when buying groceries, having 6.6 million Americans apply for unemployment in a single week and still not knowing when this will end?  Me neither!

Are your kids asking you questions you cannot answer? Are they cycling through the stages of grief or cycling in and out of anxiety, fear and boredom?  If so, that is normal.  We are navigating uncharted territory and most of us have not ever lived with this level of uncertainty. What do you do when it is week 4 and we know there will be at least 2 more weeks (very likely longer) to follow? What do you do when we don’t know what this being “done” looks like and what our new normal will be following all of this?  What do you do when your kids keep asking for answers that you don’t...

What is the right amount of sleep for a teenager to be getting at night?

It is recommended that teenagers get between 8 – 10 hours of sleep per night, ideally 9 hours.  I know...this seems like a lot!  The reason for this is that they are still having a lot of physical, emotional and brain growth which really does require this much sleep on a consistent basis. 

I know that for you, as the parent of a teenager, it can be a struggle to get them to understand this and just as much of a struggle to get them to go to bed early enough that they can sleep for 8 – 10 hours.  As you know, there are multiple things that can impact your teen’s ability to go to bed early earlier.  They often have a lot of homework, have sports or other extra-curricular activities that take place later in the evening and of course teens also want to stay up to watch television or movies, play video games or chat and text with their friends.

If your teen is used to...

For anyone who has worked with me, you know I focus a lot on the skill of validation with teenagers because I have seen repeatedly how powerful this can be.  Another skill that is powerful with teenagers is listening.  I know…this may seem like a very basic and obvious skill; however, it is not always used as effectively as it can be.  Practicing good listening with teenagers can sometimes be challenging.  The reason this can be a hard skill to use with teenagers is that they often don’t want to talk about anything important with their parents, so when they do decide to open up, feeling heard is important. 

Teenagers shut down from their parents for a variety of reasons.  One major reason is that they don’t think their parent will understand or approve of things going on in their life.  Another reason I have seen a lot, is not as obvious.  The reality is that teens want to be “grown up” and...

I think an Alien Has Invaded My Teenager’s Body!

Do you feel like you are living with an Alien? Where has your sweet daughter gone and who is this challenging, emotional girl who has taken her place?! What I have found is that many parents of teenagers feel this way. They feel like their child is a completely different person once adolescence sets, and for teenage girls, watch out!

As one of two girls growing up in my family (we were only one year apart so my parents got the double whammy of teenage girls for many years), my parents certainly experienced all the emotions and “drama” that often goes along with raising teenage girls. Frequent topics of drama in my home growing up involved who was borrowing what clothes from the other, who needed a ride where and when, who got to stay out until what time, who was treated more fairly and who was spending too long in the bathroom while getting ready for school or to go out on the weekends. Looking back, it is amazing...