Tag Archive for: Beth Greene

When Your Child Refuses Therapy

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By Beth Greene, MSW, LSW – October 9, 2024 –

As a society, we have made great strides in raising awareness for mental health. Mental health is more openly discussed, and people are more aware of signs and symptoms. These strides have added support in our homes, schools, and communities that did not exist 20 years ago.

Technology has assisted with the availability of mental health information, but unfortunately, many people stop there. We still have a long way to go, because let’s face it, actually seeking mental health treatment continues to have stigmas for both adults and children.

Sometimes parents, doctors, or school personnel will recognize the signs and symptoms of a mental health concern in a child, but the child may refuse treatment, or the parent may be hesitant due to denial or fear of bias from others. Many people feel they can handle the problems they are facing on their own or feel uncomfortable talking to a “stranger” about their problems. Some parents feel guilty or embarrassed talking about their child or family’s home life stressors.

Trying something new can be scary, but it’s important that we take our mental health just as seriously as our physical health. So how do we convince our children to go to therapy when, as a society, we may still experience discrimination towards mental health supports and seeking professional help?

First, openly discuss mental health issues in an age-appropriate way with your child. Verbalize how you feel and what you need when you are experiencing stress, grief, or a traumatic life event. Schedule therapy for yourself when you notice healthy coping skills aren’t enough or you find yourself coping in unhealthy ways, like isolating yourself or using drugs and alcohol to cope.

Next, utilize school counselors and social workers. Often times, a school-based mental health professional can provide support, mentorship, guidance, and healing. However, if the school-based social worker does not have expertise in the area of concern or there isn’t progress being made in the identified area of concern, it would be important to seek outpatient services.

School-based mental health professionals do provide support for trauma-related concerns; however, it’s not always appropriate to expect a child to process their trauma while at school and then return to their regular studies. Some children will say they only feel comfortable with their school-based mental health provider and say they don’t want an outpatient therapist. However, the school resource is only available during school hours. The school-based professional can help have these difficult conversations with your child as well.

Lastly, if your child continues to refuse to go to therapy, it could be appropriate for the parent to make a therapy appointment for themselves to receive support for their own stressors and guidance on how they can support their child outside of therapy.

The National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) reveals that every year, about 21 percent of adults in the US are affected by some kind of mental health issue. Unfortunately, not everyone from this population seeks help. According to NAMI, “Less than half of this population seeks professional guidance – with many of them reaching out for help after nearly a decade of hesitance and denial.”

These statistics show that many mental health signs and symptoms are showing up in childhood but are untreated until adulthood. Talk to your doctor, school counselor, or social worker about local mental health providers for your child if you suspect they may be struggling with their mental health.

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Snapchat and Internet Safety

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By Beth Greene, MSW, LSW, Youth First, Inc.

Teens often use social media to socialize. Although the internet is an amazing tool for our children, that reality is that it can also negatively affect their mental health and safety.

It is very important that parents stay up to date on the apps their child is using, set clear expectations for internet usage, and be aware of who their children are socializing with on social media.

Over the past five years, Snapchat has emerged as a platform ripe for bullying and online predators. Bullies will create groups or make stories on their profile to display embarrassing photos, make fun of, degrade, spread rumors, and threaten their victims.

Pictures and messages directly sent to a user immediately disappear after the message is viewed, and if someone posts on his or her story, it only stays up for only 24 hours. This can make it very difficult to gather evidence when students report issues to adults.

Although pictures and messages appear to vanish, they never actually go away within the app. It should be noted that if a crime has taken place, such as death threats or potential contact with a sexual predator, law enforcement can gain access to Snapchat accounts with a warrant.

Another concerning Snapchat feature is the “Snap Map,” which displays a user’s location to their snapchat contacts. To disable this feature, an account user must go into settings to “ghost” themselves so their friends cannot see their location. If you do not “ghost” yourself, anyone on your friends list can always see your exact location. When you get into a car and drive, Snapchat will even show your friends your movements in real time.

If a Snapchat account is not private, that account can receive messages and pictures from any stranger. Even if the account is private, Snapchat has a points system set up to give more points to users with the most friends, along with other creative ways to earn points. This encourages children to accept friend requests from strangers to gain points.

Because of these features, children become victims of unsolicited inappropriate images from child predators who have easy access to our children through this app. These predators can create an online relationship with a child to exploit them and gain access to their location.

Recently Snapchat has added its first parental control called “Family Center.” To use this feature, both parent and child must have a Snapchat account and both users must accept the request to use the Family Center feature. This feature allows parents to see who is on their child’s friend list, see whom they have communicated with most often in the past seven days, and it allows parents to report concerning accounts to Snapchat’s Safety Team.

Overall, Snapchat is currently one of the most used social media apps by teens, but it continues to maintain unsafe features. Inform your children that what they post on Snapchat never goes away and that law enforcement can get a warrant for other users’ accounts if your child falls victim to an online crime. Set clear expectations for internet/social media use and talk to your child about internet safety.

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