I fear it’s become an Instagram cliché, but can we all just take a minute and remember what we loved best about our ‘90s (or ‘80s or ‘00s) childhood? Walking over to a friend’s house after school, deciding what we wanted to play, and coming up with our own entertainment. The freedom and joy of managing our own time.

For me, this often feels far away from the world our kids or teens are living in. If you also feel the pressure of endless scheduling, supervising, checking in, reading app notifications, making sure they’re okay…Can we take a breath together and maybe a couple steps back? Let’s find some ways to increase our kid’s independence and confidence, while maybe taking some tasks off your plate.

My favorite tool right now for building independence is a seemingly simple one borrowed from the Let Grow Movement: “independence activities.” Planning opportunities for your kids to do things on their own can help reduce their anxiety and build their confidence.

Back to school season can have so much pressure and expectation! If you’re also feeling overwhelmed, or trying to be extra prepared but not sure how, here are just a few ideas. Not things you ‘must do’ or are crucial to having the ‘best school year ever’, just some ideas that you may (or may not) find helpful this week.

Here are four conversation starters for your child or teen as you prepare to go back to school…

Living with and/or parenting someone with OCD can be exhausting. The things their OCD wants them to do can be irrational. annoying, and time-consuming. And unfortunately, the natural, kind ways that we want to respond - helping them, reassuring them, doing things that can immediately reduce their anxiety - can actually increase their distress in the long run. Here is the information that I like to share with parents and family members of clients with OCD (and other anxiety disorders) to help them understand what is going on and what their role in treatment will be.

Child-Parent Relationship Training is a play-based curriculum to help parents improve communication and connection with their kids. You will also learn and practice important skills like limit-setting, giving choices, and esteem-building.

Instead of getting stuck going over and over and over a problem in your life, imagine what the solution will look like.

When being nice and trying to ignore them isn’t working, here are some ideas of how to stand up for yourself (without going too far outside of your comfort zone!).

As parents, we are wired to protect our kids. But…how should we respond when what they’re scared of isn’t actually dangerous to them? How can we help them face things that are hard so that they develop resilience?

There are no magic words that will erase all frustrating childhood behaviors. So when you have all the ‘right’ skills but still (of course) have moments when you are frustrated and struggling and it just doesn’t seem to work ‘right’, here are some things to keep in mind…

If you’re tired of being the broken record of ‘no’s or feel like all of your energy is going into negotiating things you’re not sure you should be negotiating, some new limit setting techniques might help!

Stress is normal, but can easily overwhelm us. Here are some ideas to help you practice noticing and moderating your body’s reactions to stress, to help you become more resilient.

These might be the “best four years of your life!!” …or they might not. Here is my advice for college freshmen, as a former high school teacher, mental health counseling intern at a four-year university, and therapist who specializes in working with young adults.