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Understanding the Link Between Trauma and Substance Use in Adolescents
Adolescence is a critical period of development, and exposure to trauma during this stage can impact mental health and behavior. Research consistently shows a strong connection between trauma and substance use among adolescents, with trauma often acting as a risk factor for developing substance use...
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Breaking the Cycle: How Cultural Competence in Behavioral Health Can Improve Early Intervention for Black and Brown Youth
Cultural competence in behavioral health refers to the ability of health care providers to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with individuals across cultures. It includes being aware of the cultural factors that influence an individual's experiences and worldview, including...
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Supporting Adolescents in Eating Disorder Treatment: The Impact of Family Involvement
For mental health professionals and those invested in behavioral health, understanding the role of family in eating disorder treatment is essential. All eating disorder treatment patients benefit from, and most often require, a personalized and multi-faceted approach to care where clinical...
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Developments Towards Greater Social-Emotional Support Before and After Birth
A robust body of interdisciplinary research has converged to show that healthy social-emotional development in pregnancy and the first five years sets the foundation for children’s long-term physical and mental health. When problems emerge, it is easier and far more effective to address them when...
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Supporting Childhood Behavior: Early Strategies for Success
Behavioral disorders in childhood can be challenging for families and school professionals and can have lasting negative effects on wellbeing if left untreated. The 2021-2022 National Survey of Children's Health showed that 7% of children between 3 and 17 years old had been diagnosed with...
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What Makes a Bully? Can Hazing Culture Temporarily Warp Someone’s Moral Compass?
I was a sophomore at Smoky Hill High School when the Columbine school shooting happened just 20 miles away. I remember the confusion as our school went into lockdown. None of us could have imagined the horror unfolding nearby. For 25 years, I’ve carried the weight of that day, and I’ve long...
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Time to Start Talking About Pre-Addiction
By the time someone reaches out for addiction care, they may have already suffered numerous painful losses in their lives. Addiction can steal a person’s happiness, job, friends and family, and can erode their freedom. Far too often, the expectation is that someone must hit “rock...
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Early Mental Health Screening and Intervention Could Halt Addiction Epidemic
The epidemic of substance use disorder (SUD) has become a plague on our society, resulting in countless deaths, overwhelming our health care and justice systems, and taking a terrible toll on the families of those suffering from this disease. While billions of dollars have been poured into...
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OnTrackNY: An Early Intervention Program to Interrupt Psychosis
A year ago, 21-year-old Christine* started hearing voices saying terrible things about her. She wondered “why doesn’t anyone around me admit to hearing them?” And now people have started to spy on her, through her phone. Her parents were upset that she wasn’t able to contribute to the...
