Our Latest Blogs

Recognizing a Mental Health Problem in a Child or Teen: 10 Signs I Needed Help

girl in field

As a child, I showed quite a few signs of mental illness. But I didn’t get the help I needed until I decided to take things into my own hands at the age of 26. I grew tired of feeling anxious all the time and wanted a solution to the problem. In 2015, I received […]

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 […]

How to Address Mental Health Issues In The Family With Your Children

woman and child

Today’s post comes to us from Caroline who is a health and tech blogger. She discusses the importance of having open and honest communication with your children about the mental illness of a family member. Thank you, Caroline, for sharing with us at www.rtor.org. –Veronique Hoebeke, Associate Editor   How to Address Mental Health Issues In […]

Mental Health and Social Media: 5 Tips for Parents of Teenagers

teens on smartphones

  Social media is rapidly changing the way we communicate. From staying in touch with everyone you’ve ever met on Facebook to sharing your opinions on Twitter and photographs of your life on Instagram, how people connect to each other is much different from how it was even five years ago. With younger generations growing up […]

“The Mask You Live In”: Masculinity and Mental Health

mask you live in

The screen opens on an animated scene of a kid in a basement with his father looming over him. A booming voice yells, “be a man.” The animation fades to real life and shows NFL coach and former player, Joe Ehrmann, narrating the story of how his father taught him to “be a man.” Like […]

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, […]

Alcohol and Self-Starvation: The Dangerous New Trend

beer on table

  We all know that college can be a breeding ground for partying. Many parents may worry that their kids in college might drink too much and develop an addiction, yet many don’t know that young adults are also at risk for developing an eating disorder. Unfortunately the two can come together to form a variety […]

Sarah’s Scribbles Creator Talks with rtor.org: A Candid Interview with Comic Artist Sarah Andersen

adulthood-is-a-myth-cover

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet and interview the lovely and hilarious Sarah Andersen, the creator of the widely popular Internet comic strip, “Sarah’s Scribbles.” The strip follows the main character, Sarah, as she finds herself in funny and all-too-real situations. Recently, Sarah has released a “Sarah’s Scribbles” book, Adulthood is a Myth. […]

Quarter Life Crisis: Wellness

girl-in-sunlight

  Are you a twenty-something and you’re completely and utterly lost in life? Did your original life plans change or fail and it now seems like there is no hope of ever finding the right path to take? You might be experiencing a quarter life crisis. I’m here to tell you that as confusing and terrible […]

Robin Williams Still Remembered and a Father’s Grief Takes a Trip to India

Maybe the worst thing about suicide is its finality. It is the one mistake that allows no second chances. When Robin Williams took his life in August of 2014 an entire nation grieved.  Our grief was of a partly selfish nature as we realized that there would be no new Robin Williams characters to move […]

Adoption and It’s Unique Emotional Challenges

family hug

  Here at rtor.org we are dedicated to helping families and that includes the many different ways people make up a family. A large variety of families exist outside of the typical nuclear family consisting of a father, a mother and their biological children; this includes families formed by adoption. It’s estimated that about 5 million people […]

What the British Royal Family is doing for Mental Health

Kate and Harry

The royal family of England is known around the world. While this ruling family only has a small fraction of the political power that they once had, their fame and influence seems to be at an all-time high. Even though the media frets over what Kate Middleton is wearing and who might Prince Harry marry, this family […]

Does Disney Princess Elsa Have Borderline Personality Disorder? Part II: Let It Go

Let_It_Go

  Anybody see this adorable home video last year? Apparently this little guy really loves the song “Let It Go” from the Disney animated feature Frozen. “Let It Go” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and quickly became one of the best loved Disney songs of all time. Columnist Yvonne Abraham called it […]

A Review of “The Visit”: An Open Letter to M. Night Shyamalan

the visit movie

This article contains spoilers for The Visit, The Village, The Happening and The Sixth Sense. If you don’t want the details of these films ruined for you, watch them first and meet me back here.   Dear Mr. Shyamalan, I want to discuss your latest work, The Visit with you. I went to see this […]

Moms: First Responders in Family Mental Health

mother-hugging-her-daughter

One of the benefits of running a Facebook page for your cause or business is that you get to see data on the age and gender of the people who like, share or comment on your page and posts.  Facebook calls the people who like your page “fans.”  According to the website zephoria.com, 53% of […]

Does Princess Elsa Have Borderline Personality Disorder? Disney’s “Frozen” as a Story of Emotional Dysregulation

sad woman in snow blonde

          Has anyone else been wondering what’s up with the extreme winter weather we’ve been experiencing in the northeast lately?  I’m seriously wondering if Disney ice princess Elsa isn’t up to her tricks again… The following article is the first in a three-part series on the movie Frozen as an illustration […]

Yale Expert on Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety to Speak at Laurel House on Thursday: Eli Lebowitz, PhD, Next Up in Laurel House’s Family Seminar Series

This Thursday night in Stamford, CT, our affiliate organization Laurel House is hosting a talk on childhood and adolescent anxiety by Eli Lebowitz, PhD, of the Yale Child Study Center.  Dr. Lebowitz is co-author of the book “Treating Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety: A Guide for Caregivers” and originator of the Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions […]

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 […]