Supportive Counseling Services

09/23/2021

Instagram is Toxic For Teen Girls

And Facebook Knows It

I've been doing trainings about social media and mental health since 2012. I've never done a social media training without talking about mental health. Instagram has been my flagship of information and concern for mental health since the day I opened an Instagram account. I really want you to read this article and get a feel for how Facebook is aware of the problem and trying to hide it. A few quotes from the article based upon Facebooks internal research into the issue.

-“Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse,” the researchers said in a March 2020 slide presentation posted to Facebook’s internal message board, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

-"We (Instagram) make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls,” said one slide from 2019, summarizing research about teen girls who experience the issues.

-Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram, one presentation showed.

-“The research that we’ve seen is that using social apps to connect with other people can have positive mental-health benefits,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at a congressional hearing in March 2021 when asked about children and mental health.

-Teen boys aren’t immune. In the deep dive Facebook’s researchers conducted into mental health in 2019, they found that 14% of boys in the U.S. said Instagram made them feel worse about themselves.

If you are thinking about letting your teen use Instagram... read this article first. You may change your mind.

~Ryan

https://www.biznews.com/thought-leaders/2021/09/15/facebook-instagram-mental-health

06/16/2021

We are planning social skills groups this summer to help children following the pandemic. Please contact us if your child could benefit. Feel free to share!

07/27/2020

Great advice all school aged parents need to hear!

"The decision you make about school is the right decision." Subscribe to GMA's YouTube page: https://bit.ly/2Zq0dU5 Visit Good Morning America's homepage: ht...

07/23/2020

Must watch if you have children especially teens. So many of our children struggled academically and emotionally over the past few months. This short captures it perfectly.

Filmmaker Sarah Polley called it the "best film I've seen in a long time."

06/03/2020

As anger and heartbreak have swept across America over the killing of yet another black man at the hands of police, CNN and Sesame Street are refocusing their second town hall to address racism.

05/29/2020

Dr. Laura, In the past few weeks, I have had several conversations with parents, both in person and through social media, about whether we should talk with our children about the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and 12-year-old Tamir Rice, and if so, how?

05/28/2020

More children are likely to experience toxic stress during the pandemic, which could lead to devastating effects in the future.

04/28/2020

Desperately needing some alone time away from your young children?!? Check out these tips to help grow independence.

Doing small things everyday can add up making your child more independent and confident.

04/24/2020

We can focus on the things that aren't going as planned or we can try to appreciate the moment

These flowers were ordered months ago from Detroit Abloom 's Spring Share Program. They were going to go in the lobby of our new offices. The offices should have been completed by now. They are not. Not even close. With no idea when they will be completed.

All of that is outside of my control. So I'm choosing not to focus on it and instead enjoy these beautiful flowers and appreciate the moment.

04/16/2020

In case you needed a reminder.... Your doing a great job parents! Take some time for yourself.

To all the parents out there: you are doing an amazing job! But remember to take a moment for yourself, to breath, stretch, whatever you need to keep being y...

03/22/2020

As we are trying to stay sane at my house like everyone else, we found awesome yoga videos for preschool/ early elementary students. Fun way to get the kids moving inside. Stay well!

We join Jaime for a Cosmic Kids yoga adventure all about learning to have your own adventures. This kids yoga story is a great helper for kids who find it ha...