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Child, teen and family therapy in Houston, TX. Joan's specializations include: ADD/ADHD, Anxiety, LGBT Issues, Abuse Issues, Adjustment Issues, Depression, Eating Disorders, School Trouble, Learning Disabilities, Trauma, Behavioral Problems, and Self-Mutilation. 

My Blog

This is a collection of psychiatry and psychology news and studies related to child, teen and family therapy.  These resources may be useful to parents interested in learning more about current topics influencing child, teen and family therapy.

Filtering by Tag: Bullying

How Therapy Nurtures Clients and the Benefits of Seeing a Therapist

Joan Lipuscek

Therapy is a powerful tool for personal growth, healing, and emotional resilience. For individuals navigating life’s challenges, seeking professional help can offer long-term benefits for mental health, relationships, and overall well-being. Therapists play an essential role in nurturing clients through a supportive, non-judgmental environment. This blog explores how therapists provide that care and the tangible benefits clients can experience.

How Therapists Nurture Clients

Creating a Safe, Non-Judgmental Environment: A key to effective therapy is the creation of a safe and comfortable space where clients can openly express their feelings. Therapists build trust with clients, offering a confidential environment that fosters vulnerability. Feeling secure is critical for clients to explore difficult emotions, mental health concerns, and personal growth without fear of judgment.

Providing Emotional Support and Understanding: Therapists offer more than just advice—we provide emotional support and understanding. Whether clients are dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, or trauma, therapists guide them through these challenges, validating their experiences. This emotional support helps clients process and cope with overwhelming feelings, making them feel less isolated in their struggles.

Teaching Coping Strategies and Practical Tools: Therapy is about more than just talking. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and mindfulness techniques are among the many tools therapists use to help clients manage stress, anxiety, and other challenges. These therapeutic approaches equip clients with practical skills to regulate emotions, handle life’s stressors, and navigate difficult situations.

Encouraging Personal Growth and Self-Awareness: One of the most significant aspects of therapy is helping clients develop self-awareness. By examining thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, clients gain a deeper understanding of themselves. This heightened self-awareness leads to personal growth and helps clients make positive changes in their lives, leading to improved mental health and well-being.

Supporting Clients Through Life Transitions: Major life transitions—such as divorce, job changes, or the loss of a loved one—can cause significant emotional strain. Therapists help clients manage these transitions by offering guidance, emotional support, and coping strategies. By nurturing clients through life’s changes, therapists promote resilience and adaptability.

The Benefits of Seeing a Therapist

Improved Mental Health: Therapy is highly effective for treating a wide range of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. Working with a therapist helps clients understand the root causes of their challenges and find healthier ways to cope. Over time, therapy can improve overall mental health, leading to a greater sense of emotional well-being.

Stronger Relationships: Therapy doesn’t just improve the individual—it also strengthens relationships. Through improved communication skills and emotional regulation, clients often experience better connections with their partners, family members, and friends. Therapy helps address issues like conflict resolution, intimacy challenges, and setting healthy boundaries, which all contribute to healthier, more fulfilling relationships.

Building Emotional Resilience: Life’s challenges can sometimes feel overwhelming, but therapy helps individuals build the emotional resilience needed to navigate tough situations. Clients learn how to manage stress, regulate their emotions, and stay grounded even during difficult times. Emotional resilience is a crucial skill that benefits clients throughout their lives.

Gaining Clarity and Problem-Solving Skills: Therapy offers a structured approach to tackling personal problems. By working through their thoughts and emotions with a therapist, clients gain clarity on their issues. Therapists also help break down larger problems into manageable steps, guiding clients toward effective problem-solving strategies.

Empowerment and Confidence: Through therapy, clients gain a sense of empowerment over their lives. By addressing their mental health issues, setting goals, and learning coping skills, clients feel more in control of their decisions and emotions. This increased confidence leads to a more proactive and fulfilling life.

The Importance of Therapy for Long-Term Well-Being

Therapy isn’t just for those experiencing a crisis. It offers long-term benefits by promoting self-awareness, emotional health, and personal growth. Regular sessions with a therapist can help individuals navigate life’s ups and downs with greater clarity and resilience.

For many, therapy is an ongoing journey toward better mental health. Whether someone is dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, or just seeking to improve their relationships, a therapist provides invaluable support, helping clients make meaningful progress toward their goals.

Therapists nurture their clients by offering emotional support, creating a safe space for exploration, and providing practical tools for growth. The benefits of therapy are wide-ranging, from improved mental health to stronger relationships, greater resilience, and a deeper sense of self-awareness. Whether you're facing a specific challenge or seeking personal growth, therapy offers a nurturing and transformative path to well-being.

Invest in your mental health today and consider therapy as a powerful tool for navigating life's challenges. A trusted therapist can guide you toward healing, growth, and lasting emotional resilience.

Characteristics and Effects of Child & Teen Bullying

Joan Lipuscek

Research on bullying has become increasingly sophisticated and a growing number of mental health researchers are interested in the topic. In this post we present the results of the study Adult Psychiatric Outcomes of Bullying and Being Bullied by Peers in Childhood and Adolescence by Copeland et al. published in JAMA Psychiatry on 2/20/2013.

The data for this study is from the Great Smoky Mountain Study which assessed children and teens from ages 9-16 and followed them through ages 19-26. The series of visualizations that we have created attempts to summarize the study's findings into three primary questions. (Please set your browser to allow third party cookies if you receive an error while trying to explore the data.)

Question #1 (Visualization Tab - "Child/Teen Bullies & Victims") - What are the characteristics of children and teens who are victims of bullying, both bullies and victims, and bullies?

We begin with the characteristics of children and teens who were neither bullies nor victims. We report the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and social hardship for this group of children and teens in the blue bars. Then, we overlay the study's findings of these same psychiatric disorders and social hardships for children and teens that were identified as victims of bullying, both bullies and victims, and bullies. As shown on the visualization, the study found that child and teen victims, both bullies and victims, and bullies are significantly more likely to have a variety of psychiatric disorders and social hardship. These findings are consistent with earlier studies.

Question #2 (Visualization Tab - "Young Adult Outcomes") - What are the psychiatric characteristics of young adults that were victims, both bullies and victims, and bullies as children and teens?

As we follow the population into young adulthood, several trends emerge.  

1) Bullies - First, child and teen bullies are at elevated risk for very few mental disorders as young adults. There is a statistically significant increase in risk for only antisocial personality disorder for child and teen bullies as young adults.

2) Victims - Young adults who were victimized as children and teens, on the other hand, showed significant increases in risk for a variety of mental disorders including agoraphobia, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety, depressive disorders and panic disorders.

3) Bullies and Victims - Young adults that were both bullies and victims as children and teens show the most elevated risks for mental disorders as young adults.  This group faces increased risk in both the breath and prevalence of mental disorders as young adults.

Question #3 (Visualization Tab - "Risks for Young Adults") - After controlling for psychiatric disorders and social hardships as a child and teen, how much does being a victim, bully and victim, and bully as a child and teen increase one's risk for psychiatric disorders as a young adult?

1)  Bullies - Again, children and teens who were bullies show increased risk of only antisocial personality behavior as young adults.

2) Victims - After controlling for childhood and teen psychiatric disorders and social hardships, victims of bullying continue to show significant increased risk for agoraphobia, anxiety disorders, panic disorders and generalized anxiety as young adults. The increased risk for depressive disorders is no longer statistically significant after controlling for childhood and teen psychiatric disorders and social hardships.

3) Bullies and Victims -  After controlling for childhood and teen psychiatric disorders and social hardships, bullies and victims continue to show significant increased risk for panic and depressive disorders. Interestingly, male bullies and victims show a very high increase in risk for suicidality as young adults, while females do not. Female bullies and victims show a very high increase in risk for agoraphobia as young adults, while males do not.

ADVICE FOR PARENTS

Childhood bullying should not be ignored or dismissed by parents or school administrators as a rite of passage. Instead, it is a serious issue that significantly increases risks for psychiatric disorders for childhood and teen victims, both victims and bullies, and bullies as they age and become young adults. Parents should take claims of bullying and victimization from children seriously and look to intervene by working with school administrators and teachers to stop the bullying behavior and prevent it from happening in the future.  

The study "Effectiveness of School-Based Programs to Reduce Bullying: A Systematic and Meta-analytic Review" by Ttofi et al. was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based anti-bullying programs. The study found programs to be effective by decreasing bullying by 20-23% and victimization by 17-20% on average. In evaluating what makes school-based anti-bullying programs effective, the study found that, "More intensive programs were more effective, as were programs including parent meetings, firm disciplinary methods, and improved playground supervision."  Parents of children and teens struggling with bullying behavior should ask their schools about their anti-bullying programs and raise awareness about the effectiveness of these programs in order to enact a positive change.

Note: To calculate the risk presented in the visualizations, we used the formula Relative Risk = Odds Ratio/((1 - p)+(Odds Ratio * p)) where p is the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in young adults that were not bullies or victims as children and teens.

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Cyberbullying on Social Media Linked to Teen Depression

Joan Lipuscek

This study found a link between cyber-bullying and depression in teenagers. This potential causal relationship is scary to parents because many young people will try and manage the bully by themselves and won't reach out to their parents for help.  Many fear that their parents will cut off internet access completely. It is important that parents proceed with caution when addressing cyber-bullying with their children.

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