Spring is definitely in the air, and the dogwood trees are blooming right here in Atlanta!
In addition to celebrating International Women's Day and St. Patrick's Day, it has been an interesting month with a lot of work travel, including both the TCA Therapeutic Consultants Association (TCA) Annual Training in Los Angeles and Dallas Fort Worth Behavioral Health Symposium and recording a podcast on rethinking ADHD. As an added bonus, I also managed to spend time with friends and family who were able to join me in various locations.
We're looking forward to Easter weekend on the farm, and we hope you have a wonderful time, too, however you choose to celebrate!
With best wishes,
Monthly Blog Round-Up
The following is a round-up of our monthly blogs in case you missed any on our social media posts.
One of the most challenging things about being a parent is knowing how best to guide and support your children as they enter their teenage years. As many of us can remember from our own lives, being an adolescent is a fraught and challenging experience. During the teenage years, the chasm between parent and child can seem like an unbridgeable distance. It is also a time when young people are statistically most likely to engage in risky behavior, with studies showing that risk-taking behavior peaks in late adolescence. So how can we, as parents or concerned adults, provide the best care and support during this tumultuous time?
Bipolar disorder is a serious mental health condition which affects an estimated 2.8% of adults living in the United States. In past blogs, I have explored bipolar disorder by detailing what it is and explaining how it manifests in individuals who are struggling with it. I have also written in the past about how to manage bipolar disorder within the family system and offered a range of tools for those who have a loved one struggling with bipolar disorder.
While it is important to understand what bipolar disorder is and how it manifests, here I’d like to take it one step further and begin to explore what it means to actually live with bipolar disorder day-to-day.
I had the pleasure of attending the DFWBHS Symposium in Dallas, TX, where some amazing speakers presented on various topics, including understanding military culture, tailoring mental health treatment to the individual, and using somatic experiencing, polyvagal therapy and psychodrama to treat dysregulated clients. It was a very interesting and informative event, and I got to spend time with old friends and also make some new ones.
I also had the privilege of delivering our International Trauma-Informed Therapeutic Transport Training over the three-day event.
Meanwhile... Down on the Farm
The horses are spending a lot more time enjoying the spring grass in the pasture now the weather is warming up, even though Coco has taken it upon herself to use their water trough as her own personal outdoor bathtub (the video is on Instagram if you want to see it!)
A massive thank you again to Turnbridge and Onsite for a great movie night on the farm!
And as usual, Coco got the best seat in the house and was the star of the show, though she doesn't look too happy about having to pose for a picture with her dad!
