Therapeutic Perspective

Young adults are “boomeranging” back home, and this experience is putting them at an increased risk of Depression. At the same time, their parents are in the position of taking on additional financial responsibilities, caretaking duties, and stress. So, how do we, as clinicians, support them? In this episode, we explore the anxiety and depression associated with this change and discuss interventions therapists can use to support both the young adults and parents in this situation.
Whether you work with clients that have children who recently moved back home, or your client moved back in with their parents, a home environment with more than two adults living together can become quite stressful. A recent study found that young adults who move back home, or "boomerang” back home, experience an increase in depressive symptoms. Young adults move back home for a variety of reasons, including losing a job, decline in income, personal relationship breakdown, opportunities to socialize, or to care for elderly parents. During the course of the pandemic, over 15.9 million people moved back home; given the high numbers of adults moving back in with their parents, therapists are likely to see clients experiencing both sides of this situation in their practices. 

This episode is all things REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy). Our guest, Emily Remo, M.A., discusses the differences and similarities of CBT and REBT. She also shows us how to use REBT in session and illustrates how it can be uplifting. Emily demonstrates ways to use client statements, like should or must, to segue into REBT work and provides psychoeducation on the ABCs of REBT. Plus, Emily shows us how to teach the ABCs to clients. Finally, we wrap this episode up with some tips and tricks for doing family therapy through telehealth. REBT has been used to treat disorders that, we as clinicians, encounter often, including Depression and Anxiety, and REBT provides clients with skills that they can continue using long after therapy has ended. This is a 2 part podcast, and in the second part, Emily gives us some tips for using telehealth in family therapy.

Whether this is your area of expertise or you want to learn more about working with kids, I think we can all recognize the need to support this underserved population. Many states are experiencing a shortage in child mental health providers, yet the need is great: nearly 1 in 5 children experience a mental health, emotional, or behavioral disorder, and half of all lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14. Given these statistics, it is easy to see why clinicians want, and need, to know more about working with children. Our goal today is to explore some of the fears clinicians have about working with children and the stereotypes that hold us back from doing it.

In this episode, we take a fresh look at working with children. Our guest, Jennifer Mathes, LPC, talks us through her child-centered approach, including the process of engaging the child and making the child the main focus of each session; she also highlights the steps she takes to help her child clients discover that they do want to know themselves better and shares how she engages in their world. Finally, she talks us through gaging the level of interaction necessary for each caregiver and her method for updating and including them. 

In this episode Rebecca Kornburg, LPC covers stress and anxiety management for parents and caregivers during virtual learning. Our specialist discusses the roles that caregivers need to take in virtual learning and the ones they don’t. She breaks down caregiver division of labor as it pertains to virtual learning, and why this is important for maintaining their relationship. Rebecca gives specific ways to address behavior and how caregivers can work together on this. The final take away is how to work with and reframe this experience for everyone’s mental health. 

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In this episode, we discuss the influence of early attachment on adult relationships with Liz Casey, LPC. If you work with adult survivors of childhood trauma or clients that present with characteristics of Borderline Personality Disorder or CPTSD, this is the episode for you. Liz talks us through the presentation of clients that did not have attachment needs met in childhood and the shame they experience because of it. She shares her approach to working with attachment in session and explains why she prefers the term connection. Liz discusses the importance of shifting from blame to responsibility and how it helps clients. She also helps us identify signs that clients may struggle with attachment and explains her preferred interventions for helping clients work through attachment issues. 

In this episode, we speak with Amie Allanson-Dundon, LPC about navigating politics and the pandemic in session. We discuss Election Stress Disorder, what it is, how it impacts clients, and how to help clients when they experience it. We also look at the appropriateness of discussing politics in session, how to handle clients trying to gauge your political beliefs, and what do when countertransference comes up in session. Finally, Amie explains how to support clients that are experiencing overwhelming responses to the election, and she provides a blueprint for creating treatment goals for these political responses. 

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In this episode, we talk with Anthony Campolo, LPC, LCADC. Anthony talks us through how to identify when behaviors have become problematic and how to guide treatment once they are. He reviews symptoms of substance abuse and internet addiction as well as screening tools to use in session. Anthony also provides insight, tools, and evidence-based treatment approaches that clinicians can use in their work with clients experiencing addictive disorders.

 

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In this episode, we feature Sara Kahler, LPC and Licensed Behavioral Specialist; Sara shares her expertise on supporting resilience in children and adolescents. She explains how to distinguish between typical child and adolescent behavior and behavior that may be cause for concern. Sara discusses the use of coping skills to both increase resilience and shorten recovery time for children and adolescents. Finally, she reviews common stress and anxiety behaviors seen in children and adolescents and the evidence-based approach she uses to work with them.

Postpartum Depression is the number one complication of childbirth, affecting 15% of new mothers. Symptoms of Postpartum Depression include feelings of sadness and hopelessness, irritability, appetite and sleep changes, and in some instances thoughts of suicide and self-harm. This is due to the drop in postpartum hormones in combination with sleep deprivation and emotional stress. Given these statistics, it is likely that we have, or will, encounter a client experiencing one or more perinatal mood disorder in our counseling practices, so to tell us more about these disorders, we have Perinatal Mood Specialist, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor Lauren Fafulas-Fortunato. 

Get all of our latest news, be the first to know about new episodes and events, and stay connected through Instagram, Facebook, and our Newsletter. Also, checkout our free, interactive clinician community on Facebook.