Our Latest Blogs

Suicide Prevention Within the LGBTQ Community: Resources and Support for At-Risk Youth

Suicide Prevention Within the LGBTQ Community: Resources and Support for At-Risk Youth

This week on www.rtor.org we observe National Suicide Prevention Week (Sept. 9-15, 2018) with a guest blog post on suicide risk and prevention for LGBTQ youth. The theme of this year’s Suicide Prevention Week is “The Power of Connection.” This is a message that is especially relevant for LGTBQ youth. Discrimination and social isolation place […]

How to Maintain Positive Mental Health During Freshman Year: College Tips for Young Adults with Mental Health Issues

group of college students having fun while studying

Change can be a wonderful and scary thing. For those starting their first year of college, this has never been more true. For some, change is an opportunity to propel themselves forward in a journey of self-discovery. For others, the stress and anxiety of being responsible for themselves and their success can be overwhelming. As […]

Coming Out on Top: Mental Health Resources for LGBTQ Youth

Coming Out on Top: Mental Health Resources for LGBTQ Youth

If you identify within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, your mental health is vital to take care of. As the LGBTQ community is at risk of discrimination and harassment, your mental health is vulnerable. Compared to heterosexual individuals, LGBTQ people are three times more likely to experience a mental health disorder and four times […]

Failure to Launch Part 5: Before You Write the Eviction Letter – Laying the Groundwork for a Successful Transition to Independent Living for Your Young Adult

Failure to Launch

For the past few weeks, social media and the major news networks have been buzzing with a story about a New York couple who successfully sued to have their 30-year-old son evicted from their home. News outlets from Good Morning America to The New York Times are calling it a “real- life case of Failure […]

School Truancy: Could Depression or Anxiety be the Cause?

School children working in a classroom at desks. School Truancy, School Avoidance, School Anxiety, School Refusal

What is the significance of truancy? When students are repeatedly absent from school, the potential consequences are endless. Lower achievement, higher risk of dropout, legal troubles, and suffering relationships are a few on the individual level. On the national level, truancy means a less-educated and less-prepared workforce. Less education has implications for our communities when […]

When Your Young Adult with “Failure to Launch” Won’t Get Help: Survival Tips for Parents Who Aren’t Done Parenting

Failure to Launch Syndrome

Failure to Launch Part 4 – In a blog post from 2016 I wrote about a serious problem in our culture, which I call “failure to launch” (FTL) I use this term in a non-judgmental way to describe the frustration and concern parents and other family members feel when a young person seems unable to move […]

Transitioning from College to the Workplace with ADHD

Joining the workforce is a challenge for anyone. For someone with ADHD, it can seem like an uphill climb with no end in sight. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. It is important for parents and caregivers to prepare the student for the transition into real life before college ends. A critical study […]

How to Help Your Teen Through Depression When Being Bullied At School

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a month-long observance to encourage communities nationwide to unite and raise awareness of bullying prevention through events, activities, and education. In recognition of this event, www.rtor.org has engaged psychologist Todd Griffin, Director of TG Psychology in Penrith, Australia to write a guest blog on bullying and depression in teens. […]

Failure to Launch Part 3: What It Is and What It Isn’t

Chances are if you landed on this webpage, you are concerned about a young adult who still lives at home and does not seem to be moving forward in life.  Maybe that person is you, or maybe it’s a son or daughter, or someone in your extended family.  That young person may have been diagnosed […]

How Kids with Anxiety Can Make a Smooth Transition to a New School

For kids, moving from one school to the next without any training or warning is tougher than adults remember. Because of fast moving technological advances and new teaching styles, it’s almost impossible for students to stay current in learning curves and social trends. Things like the common core are giving both children and young teens […]

Where Has The Time Gone? Sending Your Young Adult Off To College

I saw a college bound young adult in my practice last week who described needing to create emotional distance between him and his parents in order to make the experience of leaving more manageable and palpable. He effortfully tried to create tension, but his parents would either apologize, try to be supportive or attentive toward […]

College Students with Mental Health Challenges Now Have Options to Help Them Stay in School

The first big learning for me when I began my career in mental health more than thirty years ago was how many lives had been derailed by mental illness and how unnecessary that seemed to be.  I decided to specialize in the rehabilitation and recovery side of mental health because I believed that people with […]

Depression in Teenagers and What to Do About It

teen depression

Today’s post comes to us from blogger, Erica Silva. Her article breaks down teenage depression and its treatment options into simple terms that any teenager could find helpful. If you are a parent of a teenager who might be experiencing depression, this post could help him or her better understand what is going on with […]

8 Study Hacks to Beat Test Anxiety

8 Study Hacks to Beat Test Anxiety

  You showed up to class every day. You took lengthy notes and studied for hours. You go to take the test and suddenly, your body tenses, your mind goes blank, and you can’t bring yourself to answer a single question. If you can relate to this then you are probably struggling with test anxiety […]

Failure to Launch Part 2: Setting Expectations for Young Adults at Home

Bearded young adult with game controller lying on couch.

Last year I wrote an article about young adult anxiety which quickly became one of our most popular posts on rtor.org. The article, Failure To Launch:  9 Tips for Managing Anxiety in Dependent Adult Children, is based on a podcast by Yale anxiety expert, Dr. Eli Lebowitz. Since it first appeared in 2016, many people […]

What Parents Need to Know about Psychotherapy

boy in therapy

Today’s post comes to us from Certified CBT Psychotherapist and Family-Endorsed Provider, Elise Munoz, LCSW-R. Her article answers the many questions parents might have about getting their child started in therapy. Thank you, Elise, for sharing your knowledge with us at www.rtor.org. — Veronique Hoebeke, Associate Editor   If your child or teenager is struggling with emotional, […]

Understanding & Identifying OCD in the Classroom

OCD in the classroom

Today’s blog post comes to us from one of our Family-Endorsed Providers, Carla Kenney, LMHC. She writes on the importance of both educators and family members noticing the possible signs of OCD in children. Thank you, Carla, for sharing your expertise with us at rtor.org. —Veronique Hoebeke, Associate Editor Children say and do unusual things on occasion, or […]

No Letting Go: A Family’s Grief and Hope When Mental Illness Strikes

no letting go poster

  Thirty minutes into the family mental health drama No Letting Go 14-year old Tim (Noah Silverman) tosses aside his homework and shouts at his mother, “You don’t get it. I don’t need to go to school anymore.” He has been in therapy since he was ten and seems to have paralyzing anxiety that prevents […]

Failure To Launch:  9 Tips for Dealing with Anxiety in Dependent Adult Children

Failure to Launch

  This week I call your attention to the problem of “Failure to Launch” (FTL) in young adults. I’m not referring to the awful 2006 movie Failure to Launch starring Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker. In the Hollywood version of FTL a handsome, fun-loving yacht salesman who lives with his parents at age 35 has […]

‘Boy Meets Depression’ – A Heartfelt Story of Mental Health Recovery

boy meets depression

  In May of 2013 a Canadian comic named Kevin Breel gave an 11-minute TEDx Talk that went instantly viral with more than 3 million views to date.  Two big things about the speech “Confessions of a Depressed Comic” account for its success: the speaker’s age and the message he delivered. Kevin might downplay the […]

“My Past Memory” A Young Man’s Story of Trauma and Hope

  The following story is written by 19 year old Salman, a Kenyan refugee who now lives in Omaha, Nebraska. We all know childhood trauma can have a very negative effect on one’s mental health yet Salman has not let the difficulties of his past stop him. Due to Salman’s persistence, positive attitude and desire […]

Kevin Breel, 21 Year Old Mental Health Activist and TEDx Speaker Coming to Stamford, CT

boy meets depression

                            Rtor.org’s sponsor, Laurel House, is proud to announce they will be hosting a speaking event for mental health activist and comedian, Kevin Breel. At the ripe age of 19, Kevin bravely took the stage for a TEDx Talk to speak out about his personal […]

Back to School: 5 Tips for Kids With Mental Health Concerns

  It’s late August.  Interstate 95 in the Northeast is actually moving during morning and evening rush hours as workers ditch the daily commute for one last vacation of summer.  Meanwhile, the stores are full of parents and their children shopping for new clothes and school supplies.  Labor Day is late this year, but in […]

Family Vacations: 12 Tips for Travelling with a Child or Teen With a Mental Health Disorder

  Vacations are supposed to be a time for rest and relaxation in the company of those we love.  So why does “vacation” appear as a stress-inducing event on the Life Change Index Scale, otherwise known as “The Stress Test?”  As much as we cherish the memories of family vacations past, the actual experience of going […]

When Parents Reach Their Limits: Recruiting Parent Supporters to Help Manage Children’s Mental Health Issues in the Home

mom and teen fight

As the holidays approach and cold weather sets in, my mind drifts back to an amazing gift my wife and I received from a friend in the middle of last summer.  I’ll call it the gift of parenting support. That may not sound like much, but to my wife and me, struggling to raise a […]

Supportive Parenting for Childhood Anxiety: Working Together Helps Relieve the Stress of a Difficult Situation

Two weeks ago my wife and I attended a talk by Dr. Eli Lebowitz of the Yale Child Study Center, as part of Laurel House’s Family Seminar Series.  Dr. Lebowitz is an expert on childhood and adolescent anxiety, and co-founder of the Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) program. One of the most powerful […]

Avoiding the ‘Protection Trap’ in Children with Anxiety: Guidance and Support for Parents Raising Kids with Anxiety Disorders

Night Time Anxiety

A new study at Arizona State University shows that parents of children with anxiety disorders often fall into a “protection trap” that can perpetuate the problem: Parents of Anxious Children Can Avoid the ‘Protection Trap’ Parents may fall into the protection trap in three ways: responding to a scared child’s fears and worries with positive attention […]

Off to College: A Mental Health Checklist for Parents of First-Year Students

It’s mid-August and that time of year again.  Having just dropped off my first-born at college a mere ten days ago, the off-to-school drill for first-year students is fresh in mind: Tuition paid, insurance waiver and other paperwork filed New clothes, laptop, mini fridge, school supplies, etc Figure out transportation options while away at school […]