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When used responsibly, social media can provide a means for social connectedness, support, information, and entertainment for teens, all of which can be beneficial to their mental health and well-being. However, social media can also expose teens to anxiety, depression, body image issues, cyberbullying, peer pressure, racism, prejudice, sleep disorders, and addiction. These effects may be related to the amount and type of social media use, as well as the developmental stage of each teen.

“Rare Genetic/Monogenic Disorders & Co-Occurring Conditions in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities”

Each year, Gatlinburg brings together numerous behavioral scientists from around the world to discuss their research and collaborations in related fields such as intellectual and developmental disabilities. While it is a smaller conference, the attendees represent all professional levels and include students, post-docs, support and research staff, professors, and researchers. Our Pharma Services team also attended, excited to learn about the important and ground-breaking research being conducted in the IDD sphere.

You don’t need to go far to hear about the staffing woes in our schools, and the most critical needs are within the special education and school psychologists' departments. These education professionals and their peers, including SLPs and reading specialists, need to assess more students than ever to identify the students who need instructional, speech, and mental health support — with less time and fewer resources at their disposal.

Presenters: Lynsey Psimas, PhD and Paul Williams PsyD

Growth Scale Values (GSVs) have a long 50-year history within research. However, GSVs are only now gaining traction as an alternative and more precise way to measure outcomes in clinical trials.

Summertime is often a welcomed period of fun and rest for students, rewarding them with a much-needed break from their schoolwork. However, mental health never takes a vacation, and there are signs of exacerbating problems in the summer months.

A key challenge is the disruption of routine that summer brings. There’s also the reduced access to counselors, teachers, and other positive adult role models that were either a source of comfort and guidance or a positive reinforcement for their mental health. Financial instability is also a common factor, especially with students who relied on school breakfasts and lunches for their daily meals.  

It’s important to note that students from historically marginalized groups are more likely to suffer from reduced access to mental health resources throughout the school year, not just in the summer.

Support more clients with anxiety and depression assessments

In 1908, Clifford Beers published his autobiography, a chronicle of his experiences while institutionalized as well as along his mental health journey. His words held a lot of weight and reached a lot of important people who helped him begin to influence change. Over the next century, mental health and its effects on every aspect of our lives has garnered growing attention, but never as much as we are seeing today.

We are here to support you in these early days — and every day after. We’ve helped many practitioners build a practice and have put together a few tips for success!  

The rise of social anxiety (and how to help your clients flourish) Featuring Dr. Kirleen Neely, PhD, LPC-S

Every day, more of our customers are reporting an increase in social anxiety in their practices and schools. Formerly categorized as “timid” or “shy”, people with social anxiety feel self-conscious in situations where they may need to speak to someone (or worse — a group of people) they don’t know. The prevalence of Social Anxiety Disorder among adults is increasing, with 15,000,000 diagnosed each year¹. While that figure may be shocking to some, the prevalence of social anxiety in teens and adolescents is even greater — an average of 9.1% of teens and adolescents aged 13–18 — with females reported at 11.2%! Beyond the social implications of this disorder, individuals with social anxiety have a greater risk of substance abuse and clinical depression².

We reached out to one of our customers, Dr. Kirleen Neely, PhD, LPC-S, to gain some insight into what she’s experiencing in her practice and the resources she’s found helpful in addressing this growing concern.