Articles and Blog Posts

For teenagers, the beginning of a new school year can be a particularly stressful time. Teens face pressure to keep up with their studies and any extracurricular activities, maintain active social lives, and fit in with their peers. All of these stressors have only...

Each year, more young lives are lost to suicide than to heart disease, cancer, stroke, pneumonia and lung disease combined. Eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health is the first, and perhaps the most challenging step towards effective prevention. Join...

It is easy to mark the time of year with the influx of ads for back to school supplies. While jarring for many of us, as we desire to savor the lazy hazy days of August, the reality is that college drops off begin very shortly.

As we approach the end of the school year I want to introduce the notion of Courage: Courage for Next Steps. With endings come new beginnings and opportunity. However, as we move forward with next steps we let go of what has been familiar, routine, automatic. As we do so we may find ourselves in foreign and uncharted territory not just physically but emotionally, intellectually, with personal relationships and supports.

There’s a lot going on in the lives of today’s teenagers. There seems to be something happening at every moment of every day, whether it’s school, extracurricular activities, ho These packed days often lead to teens making sacrifices, as it’s not possible to cram...

As we shift from April to May, seniors are focusing on their choices for after High School. For those who applied to college, acceptances and rejections have been delivered. With the help of parents and school guidance counselors, they are sorting through yes/no and putting a check in the mail to secure their place in the upcoming Freshman class. For those who are not planning on attending college, students are working with advisors and parents to determine appropriate next steps.

Digital depression is real. A recent study from the University of Pennsylvania made headlines because it found that Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram may have a negative impact on the well-being of users of all ages. But this trend is especially alarming for...

In 1993, Barbara Green, PhD., was a young psychologist doing consult liaison work at South Shore Hospital. During one week in April, Dr. Green did four consults on the pediatric unit with adolescents who had made suicide attempts. Two of those patients were...

I would like to focus our attention this month on Resilience and Grit. We know that life without challenge is not reality. We know, and research underscores, the power of resilience, and what many of us term, grit. Resilience is the concept of the ability to bounce back, to right oneself, to get up and “shake off the dust from a scraped knee”.

Summer is glorious. It unfolds before us offering us many longer hours of daylight and sanctioned releases from typical schedules. We know from research the benefit of natural Vitamin D. Research also drives us to deeper understandings of the positives of changing up routines, exploring new places and activities, connecting with family and friends with play and recreation.

The recent high profile suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, along with the statistics released by the CDC last week indicating an alarming increase in suicide nationally, must energize us to provide early identification, intervention and referral. Open dialog is critical to help end any stigma associated with mental illness and eliminate the silence.

Barbara J. Green, Ph.D.

The shocking, sad news of two celebrity deaths by suicide this week have had a profound impact. Both phenomenally successful in their respective crafts, the deaths of iconic fashion designer Kate Spade and legendary chef and storyteller Anthony Bourdain have left...

We are about to close out another school year and end another chapter. With what may seem like the blink of an eye, all the promise that was felt in September will soon be “in the books”. I think it is very important to take a moment and mindfully reflect on the year, all that has happened, all that has been learned, all the special moments, all the challenges met, all the lessons learned.

As we approach the “celebration season” I want to call your attention to the 2018 updated edition of “Under The Right Influence”. It is an informative guide for parents and teens regarding the risks and dangers of substance use. We want our teens to celebrate but in a safe, healthy, happy way!

Yesterday we witnessed a historic moment with hundreds of thousands of teens, as well as others, marching and raising their voices loudly to be heard. While the protests focused on a specific agenda, gun laws and violence, the movement carries significance beyond...

The Japanese have a term, Ikigai. It means what gives your life meaning, what is your purpose, what gets you going each day dedicating yourself to something that is important to you. My current personal Ikigai is: “To do my best each day to help others live more...

Happiness is something that is universally important, but is defined very differently in different cultures. Aristotle described happiness as coming from a life of meaning, of living with worth in doing. For people living in situations where basic needs are...