Dr. Rachel Altvater on Teen Suicide
If you’re concerned about teen suicide, listen to this episode of Woman Worriers. Host Elizabeth Cush talks with Dr. Rachel Altvater about child and adolescent stress and suicide prevention.
“Having someone they can trust to speak with say, ‘Your feelings are valid…’ is so, so healing and helpful.”
Show Notes:
In November 2018, the Washington Post reporting a shocking statistic of concern to parents. Citing the Centers for Disease Control & Preventions’s annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the Post reported that, “approximately 1 in 6 high schoolers in the District [of Columbia] reported having attempted suicide in 2017.” In this episode of the Woman Worriers podcast, host Elizabeth Cush, LCPC, of Progression Counseling in Annapolis, Md., talks with Rachel Altvater, Psy.D., RPT-S, of Creative Psychological Health Services, about stress on young people and its impact on their parents and their mental health. They also offer insights into the problem of teen suicide and suggest what parents can do to help.
Listen and learn:
The many types of stressors that today’s adolescence face
How the are where you live can affect your children’s stress and anxiety
Why children and teens may act out at home and not elsewhere
How your stress and anxiety affects your children
The most common problem in the family dynamic
The powerful difference between “What’s wrong with you?” and “What happened to you?”
Why adolescence might be more stressful for teenagers of color or those in a sexual minority
Why it can be helpful to talk about difficult thoughts, feelings and experiences—including suicide
How the Netflix show 12 Reasons Why might be affecting how teens think about suicide—and why it’s important to talk to them about it
What parents can do to support teens in crisis
How therapy can help and which interventions are most effective
The one thing that is important for every single person in the world—and how therapy provides it
How finding the right therapist is like picking a pair of shoes
The first thing a parent should do—and why it’s so difficult
The benefits of Reflective Listening—and how to do it
Where to find help if you fear your child is suicidal
Learn More
> Dr. Rachel Altvater on Facebook
> American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
> To Write Love on Her Arms to encourage, inform and inspire those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide
> National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
> The Trevor Project crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth
> TrevorText: Text START to 678678
> 13 Reasons Why on Netflix
> CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey
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