It can feel selfish to take off to the gym or shut the door and do some yoga when your tween is riding a rollercoaster of emotions. But Dr. Jody Kashen tells host Andy Dean that self-care can not only help you, but can be an important model for kids learning how to regulate themselves and become healthy adults. Tune in to find out how to take care of yourself and have fun with your kids.  

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Parents instinctually want to protect their kids, especially when their tween is going through rapid changes and may be unsure of the world. Host Andy Dean and Dr. Jody Kashden provide three ways that families can support their tween in this complicated period. 

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The teen years can be tough, but the most profound changes are happening to tweens—kids in 5th – 8th grade. Host Andy Dean speaks with Dr. Jody Kashden, a psychologist with extensive experience working with kids, about the changes that seem to be happening lightning fast to tweens, and how they and their families must adapt to this confusing time. 

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It might be intimidating to take the first step and call a program and ask about treatment for yourself or a loved one. Today Mind on Mental Health talks to an experienced admissions clinician from Penn Medicine Princeton House Behavioral Health, Eileen Rodrigez. Andy and Eileen take the mystery out of the call so that you can feel more confident when you call for yourself or a loved one. Bonus: tips on how to communicate effectively with someone who is in a mental health crisis.

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It was July 25, 1991 when Marine veteran Dave Clauser first entered treatment for substance use disorder, convinced he was different from everyone else there. Both the straightforward staff and the members of his recovery groups gradually changed him from an isolated man to a man in recovery, making connections with others. “You don’t make that change in 96 hours,” says Dave.

Tune in to hear Dave’s conversation with host Andy Dean, and to learn about the ongoing process for a person in recovery for three decades, and who is now a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist.

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For this special episode, host Andy Dean interviews Dr. David Clauser, a US Marine Corps veteran. After his time in the military, Dave had a full career in secondary education, and holds a doctorate in education. Today, Dave is a Certified Peer Response Specialist who works with first responders at Penn Medicine Princeton House Behavioral Health’s inpatient hospital. He talks with Andy about something he tells all of his peers who are in the hospital for treatment: the six most important words he’s ever learned: “I don’t know. I need help.”

Those are harder than you would think for first responders to say. Join Andy and Dave as they talk about how loved ones can help the first responder they care about get help.

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Andy Dean speaks with therapist Nina Narang about the difference parents can make in their children’s lives when they are supportive. Being gender divergent or LGBT are not illnesses—rather, therapy helps kids and families deal with low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and other effects of being different from others while coming of age. Parents can help their kids feel safe and validated, and even powerful knowing that it’s US against the problems, rather than the child struggling alone.

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Even when teens have come out to their peers about their sexuality or gender identity, it may be harder for them to tell their parents. Andy Dean and Nina Narang talk about ways the therapist can help with that interaction, including helping parents understand and hear what their children are telling them, and

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While the world has unique challenges for LGBT kids, all teens with major depression have much in common, and therapy aims to help strengthen coping skills, to build feelings of safety, and to turn hopelessness and helplessness into action. Nina and Andy also discuss the body issues and eating disorders among LGBT teens as a means to control their own bodies.

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Despite broader acceptance than ever before, it’s still not easy to navigate both adolescence and becoming part of the LGBT community.  Primary Therapist Nina Narang works with teens and families at Princeton House Behavioral Health, and she speaks with fellow licensed clinical social worker and host Andy Dean.  Andy and Nina discuss the how the American culture affects LGBTQ teens and when they might need help.

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