What if I Don’t Feel Thankful This Year?
Thanksgiving is meant to be a time of gathering and gratitude—a beautiful sentiment if we feel we have reasons to be thankful or can access that emotional state. I know some people say, “There’s always something to be grateful for,” and while that may be true, gratitude can often feel subjective. It really depends on the eyes of the beholder.
If I had experienced a significant loss, for instance, gratitude might not feel very accessible. That’s an extreme example, but we all endure our fair share of pain in life—grief, loss, illness, missed opportunities, divorce, accidents, or even drifting away from people we once held dear. For some, Thanksgiving might even highlight what’s missing. And you know what? That’s okay. It’s okay if gratitude doesn’t come easily this holiday season. Or if it does not come at all.
The Growing Pressure for Teens to Engage in Sexual Activity During the Early High School Years
One trend that came up clearly over the years is that many teenagers feel increasing pressure to engage in sexual activity earlier in their high school years. This pressure often comes from peers, sometimes friends, media, and/ or from a desire to meet perceived expectations from other people their age. While this can impact all teens, it’s especially challenging for young women, who may feel the weight of these pressures more strongly and often share with me that they “first time” was far from what they’d imagined.
When apologies are experienced as “too little, too late”
In her book The Drama of the Gifted Child, Alice Miller delves into the deep emotional wounds children can suffer when their emotional needs go unmet, especially when parents or caregivers fail to provide the emotional attunement and validation crucial during formative years. Miller points out that apologies from parents or caregivers—often offered long after the damage is done—can sometimes feel like "too little, too late."
Feeling Invisible: A Journey Through Pain, Healing, and Rediscovering Our Worth
There’s a deep and painful emotional experience that can leave someone feeling like they don’t truly exist—the feeling of invisibility. It’s a feeling that arises when others seem to look right through us, as if our presence is inconsequential, unnoticed. We painfully observe how those around us acknowledge others with a word, a gesture, or even a glance, while we remain unrecognized. This experience can be crushing. A part of us might wish to disappear entirely, to retreat to a safe space, away from the embarrassment and rejection. Deep down, the question forms: Why am I not worth being acknowledged? And often, this leads to an even more painful self-inquiry: What is wrong with me?
Navigating the Stormy Seas of Parenting Teens
Parenting teenagers can feel like navigating stormy seas. The once sweet, cooperative child you knew has morphed into a distant, secretive, and sometimes rebellious teenager. As a psychologist who works with teens, I assure you that your feelings of frustration, confusion, and even helplessness are entirely valid. You are not alone in this journey, and there is hope for restoring a sense of peace to your family life.
Adolescents' feelings of not belonging: what can we truly do about it?
For adolescences the quest for a sense of belonging is both fundamental and at the core of their path during these formative years. As a psychologist working with teens, I have witnessed firsthand the profound impact that not feeling a strong sense of belonging can have on a teen's mental health. Not only their emotional well-being, but also their physical health and academic performance may be affected when teens have pervasive feelings of not belonging. Increased anxiety, depression, social isolation, and lowered self-esteem are some of the most common effects of feeling that we do not belong.
Navigating the Turbulent Waters: Understanding the Struggles Faced by Today's Teens
In the fast-paced and ever-evolving landscape of today's society, the challenges that teenagers encounter have become increasingly complex. As a psychologist, I have had the privilege of working closely and long term with teens facing a variety of issues – from depression and anxiety to trauma, self-injury, loss, and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. In this blog, I aim to shed light on some the main struggles teens face nowadays, such as dealing with social media, the pressures to perform they are subjected to, and the hostility so many teens encounter in the form of bullying. I emphasize the importance of working collaboratively in therapy toward understanding and making meaning of their experiences, underscoring the long-term benefits of effective therapeutic intervention.
Don't be so quick to swallow that pill
I am amazed at how often my friends, family members, or just acquaintances share with me during everyday conversation that they have been prescribed some kind of medication to address their symptoms of...
Why do we “pass on” our own unresolved issues to our children (even when we try not to do so)
I believe it is safe to say that many of us have areas of “unresolved” issues—perhaps we had experiences during childhood or adolescence that were traumatic, difficult, painful, or otherwise challenging that we haven’t had the opportunity to...