Is This Just Teen Stress—or Something More?

Led by clinicians Craig James and Matt Christian of Insight into Action Therapy.

Stress, moodiness, worry, and conflict can all be part of adolescence. But how do you know when what you're seeing is typical teen stress and when it may point to anxiety, depression, substance use, or another concern?

Drawing on what we see in the therapy office, we will explore how clinicians make that distinction and how parents can use some of the same thinking at home. We'll look at what actually separates ordinary struggle from a clinical concern, some of the ways teens today express distress, and how the current social, academic, and substance use landscape shapes what we're seeing.

We'll also spend time on the harder part: what to say or do. How do you open a conversation without shutting it down? How do you ask directly about the things parents are most afraid to ask…