Back To School Means All-Time Levels of Anxiety For Students and Parents | Expert Tips To Get You Through

As a mother of an 11-year-old, back to school anxiety is at an all-time high, and I personally feel it. 

As the nation’s children and teens are preparing to return to school, there’s something parents and students are both sharing this year – the unknown.

Millions of students across the country are preparing for fully in-person education for the first time in over a year and a half. In that time, they have faced extraordinary social isolation, learning obstacles, trauma, and grief. After more than a year of Zoom classes and homeschooling – we are seeing a rise in anxiety and a host of mental health issues in children, pre-teens, and teenagers alike 

We would like to offer expert Dr. Caroline Fenkel, a thought leader in the adolescent and young adult substance abuse treatment field, to talk about the mental health crisis surge; – what parents can do about it and how to recognize it.  

Dr. Fenkel co-founded and currently serves as Chief Clinical Officer of Charlie Health. She began her career by combining her love for horses with her desire to help others by providing equine-assisted psychotherapy.  Dr. Fenkel earned her master‘s degree from Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research and began providing treatment at all levels of care, including detoxification units, residential and outpatient treatment, and partial hospitalization. 

Charlie Health, founded in 2020, is the first-ever virtual mental health clinic for high acuity patients, enabling increased access to care for millions. Charlie Health provides teens and young adults struggling with mental health and substance use disorders personalized Intensive Outpatient (IOP) treatment programs which consist of group therapy, individual therapy, family therapy, and psychiatric support. By providing quality, accessible behavioral health support, Charlie Health ensures that sustainable healing is available to all.

We invite you to have Dr. Fenkel comment on or discuss the youth mental health crisis or to contribute to any timely mental health or healthcare stories or features you may be working on.  

Dr. Fenkel can also contribute to timely topics including:

●      What now? Suicide attempts in youth are surging – how to read the signs and what you can do to help.

●      How to support the emotional, behavioral, and mental health of children coming out of the pandemic when they’re heading back to school.

●      Knowing the limits of care – how to tell when your teen needs more help than you can provide.

●      Stepping up to handle the mental health needs of LGBTQIA + teens everywhere and what you need to know.

●      How to prepare your child for a new school year during a pandemic.

●      It’s time for parents to shift their mindset and realize that the world they grew up in is not the current one their kids are growing up in. How to change with the times.

●      How Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka have become the public faces of Gen Z putting their mental health first – and why we should be paying attention.

●      Tech to the Rescue – How one company is using virtual meetings to tackle the acute mental health crisis in teens and young adults.

To learn more, visit www.charliehealth.com.