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Mental Health Articles and Episodes

Teens are struggling with mental health today in unprecedented levels. In fact, according to the latest CDC report, 4 in 10 teens felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021. The good new is, you can help! We’ll keep you updated on the best tools and time-tested tips for connecting with teens. Because no teen deserves to feel alone.

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About Hipster Hotels and Circling Things

About Hipster Hotels and Circling Things

As I sit in a hotel lobby in West Hollywood, I realize I am really out of my element. I gaze at the mismatched furniture, eclectic mix of old paintings and antique armoires, fixtures from what seems like the Victorian era, and understand the world might have passed me by a bit. This ain’t the Red Roof Inn. I’m attending a speaking workshop where the presenter is helping us understand that speaking material is all around us. He talks about the “speaker’s lifestyle” of walking a half step slower than everyone else and just noticing the interesting and noteworthy things surrounding us.

Ryan Young Talks Student Athletes

Ryan Young Talks Student Athletes

Athletics are a huge part of many teenagers’ Middle School and High School experiences. This episode, Chris and Karlie are joined by former NFL player, Ryan Young, to talk about how to raise, coach and develop successful students athletes. There is a place for balance and growth in the context of adolescent athletics. Join us for a great conversation about how to make the most of those teenage athletic years!

Carrie Gurley Talks Dating Violence

Carrie Gurley Talks Dating Violence

Carrie Gurley defines dating violence and gives tips for how we can become more educated and better prepared to walk teenagers through difficult relationships.

Helping Students Live Life Better

Helping Students Live Life Better

A few months back, our team at Teen Lifeline took an assessment that looked at our motivations. Many assessments focus on personality, but I loved this one because it looked past our tendencies and helped us understand what drives us to succeed – and why we get frustrated in our pursuits. This assessment really pegged me. There were a few key motivations that came to light but one really caught my eye. Improve.

Reclaiming Human Interaction

Reclaiming Human Interaction

I am feeling old fashioned lately. As a relative late-comer to the social media scene, I find myself more as a consumer of these platforms (i.e. just reading and observing) than an actual participant. I like to post overly cute pictures of my kids or post some off-kilter observations of the world around me, but as for using social media as a place for serious discussion, I don’t know how to do it. I’ve had some fun discussions with those just slightly younger than me (including a certain female member of our staff here at Teen Lifeline) about the merits, or lack thereof, surrounding how we use social media. I didn’t grow up with it but more engaged with it well into my mid to late 20’s – well past the age of indoctrination on such things.

It’s Not the Teacher’s Fault

It’s Not the Teacher’s Fault

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this. Mainly from students but also from parents who see the teacher as the problem in a particular class. I have to admit, I have even said the same thing when I was in school. Even though this is an easy thing to fall back on, I have never felt comfortable (and the more I work with teachers and schools, I feel less and less comfortable) with this mentality. The problem has been that I didn’t know how to process this mentality in order to make it better, much less how to communicate to people how they too could shift their perspective, stop blaming and start making positive progress. That is until recently. I just finished a book called Extreme Leadership. It is a business book, but the last principle they talk about in the book helped me begin to clarify why the idea that the teacher is the problem doesn’t compute for me, and I hope it won’t for you either.