Last month, Bishop Guertin High School hosted a community forum on mental health that was recorded on their YouTube channel. We were honored to partner with Bishop Guertin and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health on this project. Read more
Tag: teenager
Pushing the Reset Button
In an April 12, 2020, interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Rule, New York Times columnist David Brooks said that the coronavirus was like “an x-ray on our society…we know ourselves better when you are in a valley. So I am hopeful that we’re going to have a great reset.”
What is the Weekend Intensive Program?
COVID Update: I continue to work with individuals and families using the Weekend/Family Intensive program. I will work in-person with families within a reasonable driving distance when COVID protocols can be followed. Also, many families are now coming to me to work in person and stay at a nearby hotel. If in-person is not possible, using Zoom is a bit tougher for new clients, especially Weekend/Family Intensive families, but it’s working just fine for many families who need help now and can’t wait for the pandemic to be over. As always, I am happy to work for as many hours as it takes for your family to make progress, and if we have to use Zoom we can arrange as many Zoom sessions as are needed for me to work with all the people involved.
Please feel free to contact me to discuss your situation with you to see if I am a good fit for your child and family.
We designed the Weekend/Family Intensive program for families who are really struggling and need immediate help.
With the Weekend/Family Intensive, Jeff comes to you (or the family comes to him) or uses Zoom to work with the entire family over the course of a weekend. He gives you an evaluation and a lot of feedback, and then works with all parties involved to develop a plan for moving forward.
The Weekend Intensive also works well for families who are not close enough geographically for weekly sessions. Usually, after an intense weekend of work, everyone is comfortable enough with each other for work to continue via Zoom, phone, text, email, etc.
Below is a video where Jeff explains the Weekend Intensive in more detail. As always, feel free to contact Jeff to discuss whether this program can help your teen or 20-something and your family.
Finding Common Ground: A Program for School Administrators
Finding Common Ground:
Partnering with Parents, Educators, & Students
to Reduce Anxiety & Stress in the Public Schools
March 4, 5-7pm, Puritan Backroom, Manchester, New Hampshire
Sponsored by The Reconnection Project/Jeff Levin Coaching
School administrators are invited to enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a relaxing, solution-focused forum with your colleagues on the new challenges caused by the epidemic of increased stress and anxiety. The discussion will include:
- The increasing number of parents seemingly at cross-purposes with school staff.
- Breaking down the seeming vastness of the anxiety issue into manageable, conquerable steps.
5-5:30: Registration and Introductions
Remarks by Stephen Sierpina, Windham H.S. principal
Jeff Levin, Reconnection Project Founder
5:30-6: Discussion of the issues: How pervasive is the stress/anxiety in your school community?
6-7: Solutions: How can we work over time with parents, our staffs, and, of course, the students to reconnect the school community and reduce student stress, anxiety, and all of the negative behaviors they engender?
Preregistration would be appreciated, but drop-ins are also welcome: Contact Jeff Levin at (603) 496-0305 or at jeff@jefflevincoaching.com.
Want to receive more emails about reducing stress in schools? Join our mailing list.
Failure-to-Launch Young Adults: A New Approach
When school started, I heard about several kids who went to college—very good colleges to which the students had happily anticipated going for months—and after only a few days, called their parents to pick them up and take them home.
I see this more and more. Some will go back to school. Others will sit in their parents’ basements playing video games, with their parents wringing their hands because they do not know what to do. This can go on for years, and failure-to-launch young adults make up a large part of my business.
What I find when I talk with these teens and 20-somethings are young people who have never faced adversity, are full of shame and doubt, and lack a sense of themselves or autonomy. When I talk with the parents, I find adults who thought they did everything right and are mystified about where things went wrong.
How did they get there? And, more importantly, how to get them past this? Read more
The Importance of Mission
“Our own life has to be our message.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
The recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, terrible tragedy that it was, also ended up bringing to the fore something positive that is sorely lacking in many of today’s young people: a mission. Although I wish it weren’t mass shootings that were the reason, the way students around the world rallied around the cause of “no more school shootings” couldn’t have been a better demonstration of how kids are brought to life around a mission. Read more
What Dreams Are Made of
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
I talk about making dreams come true a lot. That sounds so…frivolous, so hokey—so why do I keep saying it?
Because it is so important to kids’—and adults’—mental health, that’s why. Read more
Confidence Coaching
In my work with athletic teams and other groups of kids, I have found that even the highest-functioning kids often lack confidence. In today’s highly structured and scheduled world, kids can get pretty far just doing what they’re told and completing tasks, so it sometimes comes as a surprise to both the student—and their parents—when they come up against a situation where deep-seated, steady confidence is needed, but it just isn’t there to be called upon. Coaches and educators frequently bring this up, and it seems as though parents are catching on.
The Confidence Coaching program is the result, and I think it can help just about any teenager or 20-something. If your kid is struggling but not in real trouble, it can help a lot. (If your kid is in real trouble, I can help with that, too, but that requires a different approach.) If your kid is an über-achiever, I think you will be surprised at how injecting a dose of confidence will bring more imagination and joy to their achievements. The program is fun, insightful, and powerful, and most kids love it. It can also be something that friends can enjoy together: the program works great with small groups. Usually it only takes a few sessions to see results.
Want to know whether Confidence Coaching is right for your teenager or 20-something? Give me a call or drop me a text at 603-496-0305, or use the form below to email me, and let’s talk about it.
Here’s the brochure, and FYI — many adults can benefit from Confidence Coaching as well!
Here is more information how I work with teens, 20-somethings, and their families.
Opiates and Outcome Fever
I spoke to a father of three teenage boys recently, a very reasonable, bright man. He expressed concern about the fact that opiates are out there, and we talked about striking that parenting balance around drugs and alcohol, about finding that sweet spot where you don’t issue blanket prohibitions that are impossible to enforce, nor do you become overly permissive.
This brought up some things I’ve been mulling over:
- Why are so many teenagers sniffing and shooting opiates, boys and girls who, a generation ago, wouldn’t have even entertained a thought of using them?
- What are the more complex dynamics in middle- and upper-class schools and families that are causing kids to use opiates?
Actually, I would argue that “good” kids are taking risks with many aspects of their lives, not just opiates. In fact, many of their choices can be seen through the lens of addictive behavior, whether it’s sex, working out, drinking, video games, even schoolwork. Read more
The Beauty of Mindless Tasks
For some reason I don’t understand, many kids today are not ever asked to do housework. They are never asked to do a dish, vacuum, do laundry, mow the lawn, or any household chores. Perhaps parents think their children are too busy to waste time on mundane tasks? I would argue that these mindless tasks are anything but mundane. Read more