One of the most important components of stress management and a busy schedule is prioritizing.

A lot of the anxious, perfectionist teens I work with feel overwhelmed by the amount of things to get done during the busy school year.

Rather than letting all of those tasks feel insurmountable, you can break down what needs to be done and when.

Step by step.

Figure out the steps needed to reach your goal, and keep those steps really specific and time-sensitive (such as, "I need to research 10 articles for this upcoming history paper by Tuesday," vs. just "I need to start work on my history paper.")

After sexual assault, rape, or abuse, it’s important to offer support tailored to the survivor.

Some may want to walk through all the details, and others won’t want to talk about it at all. It’s also important to recognize that you can help by getting the survivor to a trained professional - a doctor if there’s been any kind of physical trauma, the police to file a report, and a counselor or psychologist to help with the mental aftermath.

Not everyone who experiences sexual assault will have trauma or ptsd afterward.

But it’s important to look out for the signs, like nightmares, flashbacks, angry outbursts, feeling jumpy, or feeling “out of control.” …

Some kids are a little embarrassed to have to go to therapy…

but nine times out of ten they become more comfortable with it after the initial session. On top of that, in my professional experience, younger children are super excited to go to counseling because they view it as an opportunity to play and hang out one-on-one with a safe grown up, and through counseling they learn the skills and tools needed to help manage their anxiety.

For anxious kids, teens, and college students, it can be very difficult to fall asleep at night.

Not falling asleep means being exhausted the next morning. And guess what happens the next morning? You're too tired to adequately respond to all of the stressors during your day. It's a vicious cycle - and it's super, super common. 

One of the ways to relax is to build up a regular relaxation practice.

This means incorporating regular exercise and healthy eating ALONG with relaxation practice, including breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, and visualization.

Managing anxiety is tough.

And it can be hard to focus on anything else when it feels like anxiety is at the forefront of your mind. It gets in the way of schoolwork, family time, stuff with friends or romantic partners. 

If you deal with anxiety on a regular basis, you also probably know how it builds over time. Sometimes it builds slowly, until you suddenly realize that you're way too stressed out. Other times, it seems to skyrocket and you're left dealing with a very unexpected panic attack.

Failure is really important!

I specialize in working with kids and teens who are consistently high performers in the classroom. And a lot of times, underneath it all, there's a ton of anxiety. They worry about failure. They get so focused on small things they've done wrong that they can't see the greater picture. So for people who have serious anxiety, an A- compared to an A is a huge difference. 

Failure helps you to gain perspective, and not lose the forest for the trees.