The cornerstone of a child’s well-being, growth, and development is often rooted in their caregivers' mental and emotional health. Parental figures influence how children process information, behave, and interact with the world around them.   

However, parents are human — and many parents struggle with maintaining their mental stability. Any parent can grapple with anxiety symptoms, attachment issues, and executive dysfunction, all of which can affect their parenting.  

In these situations, Multisystemic Therapy (MST) can be a key source of help. Recognizing the profound connection between parental well-being and children's mental health, MST focuses on holistic therapeutic interventions for at-risk youth. MST treatment looks at the whole family, including the parents, who may need extra support both as a parent and as a human being.   

Because children spend much of their time at school, schools can be the perfect setting for promoting mental health awareness. Schools can help students learn about mental health and access helpful resources. But in order to take full advantage of this opportunity, we must first break the stigma attached to mental illness. 

Therapy can be a positive tool for change in a person’s life. However, the relationship between a therapist and their client significantly impacts the effectiveness of the treatment.  Unfortunately, many barriers can threaten the therapist-client relationship, including communication breakdowns, power imbalances, and conflicting goals.  

Addressing these struggles early can prevent them from escalating and affecting treatment outcomes. In addition, when therapists approach these struggles with intentionality and self-awareness, it can ultimately improve the relationship and help the client reach their therapy goals. 

How you view yourself, your qualities, and your capabilities — in other words, your self-esteem — plays a major role in your mental health. This is true for people of all ages, including teenagers. A healthy level of self-esteem can set a teenager up for success as it can empower them to set boundaries, bounce back from challenges, and make positive choices.   

Unfortunately, many teenagers struggle with low self-esteem. Adolescence can be challenging, and hormonal shifts, physical changes, and social challenges, coupled with new responsibilities and peer pressure, can affect a teenager's self-perception.  

May is National Teen Self-Esteem Month, which offers us the opportunity to reflect on the connection between self-esteem and mental health, as well as how to build self-esteem in teenagers.

The outcome of any form of counseling depends on how well the therapist is able to engage the client and their caregivers in sessions.  The same can be said for family therapy interventions. If the therapist isn’t able to engage family members, it can impact how well interventions will be implemented that positively affect the entire family.  

When it comes to family-based counseling, therapists measure client engagement in the following ways: 

• Attending the sessions regularly

• Sharing openly during the sessions

• Being willing to discuss difficult topics 

• Participating in exercises and activities during the session 

• Completing therapy homework between sessions 

• Attempting to integrate insights into their day-to-day life 

When a therapist is able to engage clients, they are likely to achieve better outcomes more quickly, not only for the client but the entire family.  

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) works to address known barriers to client and caregiver engagement and utilize the strategies below, though this is not an exhaustive list.  

Youth mental health is a growing concern for parents and policymakers around the world. Adolescence is a formative time in which personal changes and exposure to trauma can make a teen vulnerable to psychological illnesses, such as anxiety, depression, and conduct disorder.

School safety is a priority for parents and teachers as summer comes to an end.

While families and educators across the nation heal from the Uvalde, Texas school shooting effects, they simultaneously prepare to send youth back to the classroom after the summer break. The tragedy that occurred at Robb Elementary School was the 27th school shooting in 2022 and the deadliest since the one that took place in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary.

The United States has more children in a youth correctional facility than any other country in the world. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) states that about 60,000 adolescents under the age of 18 are incarcerated in juvenile jails and prisons on any given day.

Research shows that children who have spent time in facilities tend to exhibit physical and mental health concerns later in life and they are more likely to fall behind in school, which is an important component of staying out of the system.

During the school year, Sabine Polak received a call from the guidance counselor regarding her 14-year-old daughter. In addition to being depressed, her daughter had contemplated suicide. Sabine brought her daughter to a crisis center to address her pressing mental health concerns and soon found out that her daughter's intense anxiety was caused by social media. The main reason for her stress was waiting for her friends to respond on Snapchat.

In 2019, 130 people committed suicide in the United States each day - sadly contributing to the 703,000 suicide deaths around the globe. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness of the second leading cause of death worldwide for youth aged 15-24 years.