Article Summaries
Affluenza
09 January 2014
By Quinton Ellis M.S.,L.P.C.
By the time these words come in contact with your eyes, you likely will have heard about “Affluenza”. For those who haven’t, and thereby still possess the portion of sanity now lost to the rest of us, allow me to ruin your day. Back in June a 16-year-old in Texas, fortified with stol...
Congratulations! Your Child's Mediocre!
26 November 2013
By Chad McCoy, Staff Therapist
Ever been stuck in traffic, the kind where every driver is an idiot and can be blamed for you being late? Well, I found myself in such a jam the other day.
As I scoured the sea of vanity license plates and various bumper stickers, I came across one that left me a bit dumbfounded. Right before m...
Less is More When Dealing with Stress
13 November 2013
By Sheila Stinnett, LPC
I read an interesting blog the other day about the Voluntary Simplicity Movement. This site was filled with the positive testimonials of individuals and families who have made the conscious decision to break with the American dream of “keeping up with the Jones” and to begin the life changing process o...Country and Western Therapy - Part II
02 November 2013
By John Goetz, LPC
In a previous article I made reference to something I call country and western therapy. The central point is a person can find h...
Smoking Alcohol
17 October 2013
by Darcy McConnell, M.E.d, LPC, LADC
Working with so many young people there is little that surprises me about their drug and alcohol abuse. However, about two weeks ago I was taken back when a teenager told me about a party where she was introduced to smoking alcohol. Yes, I know it seems like a concept that doesn’t sound quite ri...Depression Dims the Golden Years
29 August 2013
By Belinda Crosier, M.E., LPC
For a society as youth-oriented as ours, it might seem that depression and aging would be synonymous. However, contrary to what many professionals and lay people believe, depression should NOT be considered a normal part of aging. Just because old age is the latter stages of one's life does not mean it ...
Kids in the Crossfire
23 August 2013
By Belinda Crosier
It’s a sad fact that Oklahoma’s divorce rate continues to be one of the highest in the nation. Sadder still – even tragic – is the number of kids caught in the crossfire of parents’ animosity and bitterness toward each other. Parents who demean, degrade or curse their ex-spouses in ...
Dealing with Suicide
23 August 2013
By Darcy McConnell, M.Ed., LPC, LADC, CADA
Dealing primarily with adolescents attending Edmond high schools, exposure to the current events and trending topics of teenagers is an ever present component of fulfilling the counselor role. The highly publicized Amanda Todd story became the topic of a recent emotional group discussion am...
Watch and Learn, A Little About Fear
19 August 2013
The Meaning of Life
06 August 2013
By Chad McCoy, MA, LPC Supervisee
What IS the meaning of life? If you find yourself intently scouring this article for the answer to the age old question, I, with much confidence, can tell you to read no further. Give this article not another thought, because sadly I do not hold the answer. I have been told many things about what t...
Fear of Back to School
24 July 2013
By Sheila Stinnett, LPC
As the last few days of summer wind down, thousands of elementary children ready themselves for their return back to the classroom. During this count down to the big “first day”, back packs are filled with brand new supplies, new clothes and shoes are purchased and social media buzzes with the exciteme...A Brief Primer on Loss
10 July 2013
By John Goetz, LPC
I know it sounds almost cliché but I think this quote may bear repeating, “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,” Alfred Lord Tennyson. Read it again and let it start to sink in. A sad fact of life is that love and loss are a package deal. They are threads in the ...
Parenting with Divorce
27 June 2013
By Darcy McConnell, LPC, LADA
It seems to be common knowledge among Oklahomans that we are living in the state with the highest rate of divorce in the U.S. Consequently, 50% of children born to married parents today will experience the divorce of their parents before the children reach 18 years of age. Furthermore, close to half of ...
Teens and Prescription Drugs
05 June 2013
By: Darcy McConnell, M.Ed.
Recent national studies and published reports indicate that alarming numbers of young people ages 12-17 are intentionally abusing prescription drugs such as pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants and sedatives, to get high. The National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse an...
Teen Reality Gap
05 June 2013
By Darcy McConnell, M.Ed., LADC, LPC
A recently released publication from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reveals that teen drug and alcohol abuse has hit an all-time high nationwide. Oklahoma specific statistics indicate that over 34,000 Oklahoma teens abused drugs in the past month (informati...
Monitoring the Future
05 June 2013
By Darcy McConnell, M.Ed.
The latest “Monitoring the Future” survey of teenage substance abuse indicates that marijuana abuse is on the rise after two decades of consistent decline. On average about 15% of eighth through 12th grade students have abused one or more illegal drugs in the past month. Fortunately, cigarette ...
Summer Parenting Tip
05 June 2013
By Darcy McConnell, M.Ed.
Schools been out for about a month and the amount of free time teens have is scary and anxiety provoking to most parents. Even more startling is that fact that statistics show that drug and alcohol abuse, along with law violations by adolescents, increase during the summer months. For some teens summer mea...
Three Words of Wisdom
04 June 2013
By John Goetz
It is part of culture to pass down the knowledge we have gathered to future generations. We do so through stories, metaphors, books, song and a countless host of other methods. It is an attempt to help our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren learn from our experiences. With the help of some clever marke...
Super Size Me
04 June 2013
By John Goetz, M.Ed. L.P.C.
This weekend I did something I previously stated I would not do. I watched the documentary "Super Size Me", the story of a guy who eats nothing but what is offered on the menu at McDonalds for 30 days. Now, I have been known to watch my share of documentaries...
Anger and a Desire to Change
04 June 2013
By John Goetz, M.Ed. L.P.C.
Irritated, annoyed, ticked, hot, enraged and frustrated . . . these are but a few of the words we use to describe anger. Webster's states that anger is a feeling of displeasure and usually of antagonism. According to the America Psychological Association, anger is an emotional state that varies in intensi...
