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Parent Guidance

Courses

How to be vulnerable with your teen

How To Provide Unshakeable Support: Parent Guidance Playbook – Kyle’s Story

“The long-term goal of communicating with his dad…is actually going to be more therapeutic in the long run and helps him get over the short term anxiety…” Dr. James Mazza is a professor of psychology at the University of Washington College of Education. As a researcher and practitioner, he is focused on adolescent mental health issues, particularly internalizing disorders such as depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, exposure to violence and especially suicidal behavior. He helped develop a social emotional regulation curriculum, called Skills Training for Emotional Problem-Solving for Adolescents (STEPS-A). interested in the impact of cyberbullying (social media) and exposure to community violence to PTSD, depression, anxiety and suicidal behavior. His current work also looks at the impact of cyberbullying, exposure to community violence, depression, anxiety and suicidal behavior. Dr. Mazza earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

How to be vulnerable with your teen

How To Be Vulnerable With Your Teen: Parent Guidance Playbook – Kyle’s Story

“I need to ask you something and I want you to know that whatever the answer is, I love you…” Persistent bullying becomes a waking nightmare for 16-year-old Kyle, whose struggles with negative thinking take center stage when it seems like everyone at school is against him. Feeling trapped and alone, Kyle turns to alcohol to suppress the self-critical voice that echoes in his head. Kyle hides the bullying and the alcoholism from his father Mario, who he believes could never understand what he’s going through. Sensing that something is wrong, Mario shares about his own struggle with PTSD after serving in the military and helps Kyle get comfortable communicating his feelings. Alcohol doesn’t numb the pain forever, but when his negative thoughts become overpowering again, Kyle finds that opening up about his struggle with people who care about him is a more powerful remedy than drinking could ever be.

One question that can help save lives - parent guidance playbook

One Question That Can Help Save Lives: Parent Guidance Playbook – Kyle’s Story

“I need to ask you something and I want you to know that whatever the answer is, I love you…” Persistent bullying becomes a waking nightmare for 16-year-old Kyle, whose struggles with negative thinking take center stage when it seems like everyone at school is against him. Feeling trapped and alone, Kyle turns to alcohol to suppress the self-critical voice that echoes in his head. Kyle hides the bullying and the alcoholism from his father Mario, who he believes could never understand what he’s going through. Sensing that something is wrong, Mario shares about his own struggle with PTSD after serving in the military and helps Kyle get comfortable communicating his feelings. Alcohol doesn’t numb the pain forever, but when his negative thoughts become overpowering again, Kyle finds that opening up about his struggle with people who care about him is a more powerful remedy than drinking could ever be.

little boy, window, waiting

Making sense of your grief and the healing process

Dr. Ted Wiard’s passion for working with grief, in its many forms, arose from his own personal losses.

In this course Dr. Wiard guides you in making sense of your grief and the healing process. You will learn: how to move forward, why grieving is non-linear, how to honor your loss, and how grief and loss are different.

Helping Your Child When They’re Bullied

Bullying is a pervasive issue that Dr. Melissa Lopez-Larson has seen growing exponentially over the past several years. In this course, Dr. Lopez-Larson discusses how to identify bullying, treatment options, strategies for prevention, and more.

Topics include: What bullying is and isn’t, Who bullies and who gets bullied, Stopping the bullying cycle, Bullying in social media, Bullying in school, and Bullying in sports.

How Digital Media is Changing Our Children’s Mental Health

In this necessary and current class, Dr. Skinner shares research and gives practical and implementable advice to parents around technology and how it’s impacting our children’s mental health

Dr. Skinner addresses

  • What’s Driving the Rapid Acceleration of Anxiety and Depression in Teens?
  • How to Talk with Your Child about Their Screen Time
  • Four Strategies to Protect Our Children’s Mental Well-Being

Move Toward™ with Jenna: Anxiety


Our natural instinct is often to move against anxiety through busyness or numbing, so we don’t have to feel it or notice it. In this meditation, Jenna teaches us how to move toward our anxiety so we can help it to feel reassured, comforted, and be able to settle down.

Everyday Happiness

What is happiness? What negative thoughts are holding you back? How do you change your negative thoughts and perspective? Join Brett Williams, therapist, author, and happiness researcher as he teaches how to achieve change and develop habits that will lead to everyday happiness.

Move Toward™ with Jenna: Anger and Frustration


If you are struggling with feelings of anger and frustration, you are not alone. These emotions are natural protective responses that we all have and must work through when faced with trying circumstances.

Counter to what one may think, if we wish to move beyond these difficult emotions, we must Move Toward™ them first––in order to learn why they are there and what they are trying to tell us.

In her latest Move Toward™ class, focused on anger and frustration, Jenna Riemersma, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Level III Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapist, EMDR therapist, Certified Sex Addiction Therapist Supervisor (CSAT-S), Certified Multiple Addiction Therapist Supervisor (CMAT-S), and a National Certified Counselor (NCC), uses her “Three Steps of Moving Toward”––notice, know, and need, to help us reconnect with ourselves and gain a better understanding of where our anger and frustration is coming from.

Jenna challenges us to ask hard questions like:

What does anger want me to know?
How is my anger trying to help me?
What does my anger need from me in order to feel comfortable and not work so hard?

What Parents Need to Know about Suicide Prevention

Dr. Greg Hudnall offers experience and expert advice around how parents can help to prevent suicide.

In this course, you’ll learn:

  • The Basic Principles of Mental Health
  • Why does suicide occur?
  • The Warnings Signs of Suicide
  • What Not to Say and Do
  • What You Need to Say and Do
  • Where can you go for help?

Understanding Your Child’s Emotional Development: 15-18 Years of Age

In this third of a four course series, Dr. Skinner teaches the common issues children between the ages of 15-18 face that can either negatively or positively impact their identity.

When we know what to expect, we are prepared and can predict what a child will go through, being more available to help them, should they need it.

This is the fourth of four courses. Additional courses in this series address ages 5-10, 11-14 and 19-22.

Understanding LGBTQ+ in Our Children: How to Respond in a Healthy Way

In this course, Dr. Kevin Skinner and Dr. DeVon Mills discuss how to respond in a healthy way when your child comes out. They cover the following topics:

– The Ideal First Response
– Preparing For Sexual Identity Discussions
– What To Do If The Initial Conversation Doesn’t Go Well
– Steps to Take After The First Conversation
– How To Balance Faith and Coming Out

Understanding LGBTQ+ in Our Children: Being Unified as Parents

In this course, Dr. Kevin Skinner and Dr. DeVon Mills discuss unified parenting and the importance of a thoughtful, intentional response to your child coming out. They cover:

⁃ Where to Start when Parents Are on Different Pages
– How to Keep Your Marriage Together
⁃ Creating a Plan That Will Work for Your Family
⁃ How to Establish Ground Rules

Understanding Your Child’s Emotional Development: 19-22 Years of Age

In this fourth of a four course series, Dr. Skinner teaches the common issues children between the ages of 19-22 face that can either negatively or positively impact their identity.

When we know what to expect, we are prepared and can predict what a child will go through, being more available to help them, should they need it.

This is the fourth of four courses. Additional courses in this series address ages 5-10, 11-14 and 14-18.

Move Toward™ with Jenna: Busyness


Busyness can be a very common part of our life. In this meditation, Jenna teaches us how to Move Toward™ our busyness to see if we can get to know it better – and help it feel some relief, if it’s working harder than it would like to be.

Move Toward™ with Jenna: Your Child’s Anxiety


In this Move Toward™ meditation, focused on parenting children with anxiety, Jenna Riemersma, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Level III Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapist, EMDR therapist, Certified Sex Addiction Therapist Supervisor (CSAT-S), Certified Multiple Addiction Therapist Supervisor (CMAT-S), and a National Certified Counselor (NCC), uses her “Three Steps of Moving Toward”––notice, notify, and need, to help us learn how to best show up for our children when they struggle with anxiety.

Move Toward™ with Jenna: Inner Critic


In this Move Toward™ meditation, focused on our inner critic, Jenna Riemersma, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Level III Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapist, EMDR therapist, Certified Sex Addiction Therapist Supervisor (CSAT-S), Certified Multiple Addiction Therapist Supervisor (CMAT-S), and a National Certified Counselor (NCC), uses her “Three Steps of Moving Toward”––notice, notify, and need, to help us learn how to get to know our inner critic as the well intentioned friend that it actually is.