Panoramic Counseling Blog

Mental Health Movie Review: Joe Bell

I came across the movie, Joe Bell while scrolling through Prime Video. The trailer caught my eye and after watching the film, I am excited to share my mental health movie review with you. What's the movie about? Joe Bell is a movie based on a true story about a man and his family, focusing primarily on Joe's son, Jaden....[ read more ]

Book Review: The Passing Playbook

The book recommending algorithm didn't disappoint when it brought The Passing Playbook, by Isaac Fitzsimons to my attention. Though this is a novel with a target audience of adolescents and young adults, I, reading from a therapist's perspective, was very impressed with how well the author does with covering a multitude of topics impacting gay, transgender, and nonbinary youth. With...[ read more ]

Teens and Vaping (Part 2)

In part 1*, I talked about: How vaping is pervasive among teens and young adults How targeted marketing plays a role The associated health risks of teen vaping And I also provided some tips to parents Today, I'll be reflecting on a WSJ article** I read earlier this week to continue the conversation. The Article The first post focused primarily...[ read more ]

Teens and Social Media

I realize this is my third post on the topic of technology/ social media in the past week but I had to share what I learned from an article* in today's newspaper. The headline was, "Parents, Here are Teen Girls' Rules for Instagram." As a therapist working primarily with adolescents, this immediately caught my attention; more so, I was blown...[ read more ]

Book Review of “Boys & Sex” by Peggy Orenstein

Since I primarily work with teenagers and read a ton on adolescent development, I wasn't surprised when my library's e-book app recommended Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity, by Peggy Orenstein. Before we dive in, the information presented within comes from Orenstein's research of well over 100 male teens and young...[ read more ]

Teens and Vaping (Part 1)

As a young therapist working primarily with teenagers and young adults, I've come to learn a thing or two about vaping. In this post, I'll share some of the origin story of the vaping industry, my clinical observations, concerns, as well as some tips for parents and role models for this young population. Marketing is Pervasive and Deadly The most...[ read more ]

Childhood Interrupted- Raising Kids During a Pandemic: A Book Review

I'm always excited to review books that can be used as resources for my clients and their parents. Today, I'm excited to share some of the insights that I gained from Dr. Sanjay Gupta's latest book, Childhood Interrupted- Raising Kids During a Pandemic. I see a lot of adolescents at my therapy practice and many of the parents of these...[ read more ]

Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medications for Kids: A Book Review

A parent of a client gifted me the book, Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medications for Kids, by Timothy Wilens and Paul Hammerness. As a therapist, clients and their parents often ask for my thoughts on medication, so I was thrilled to check out a book that breaks down all angles of this issue in layman's terms. Today, I'll share some...[ read more ]

On Childhood Mental Health

Today, I’m excited to share an interview with my wife, Rachel, who is a school counselor. As I think back to my elementary and middle school years, I don’t recall my peers going through too many mental health issues. I was likely unaware. What are the type of issues you encounter in your daily work as a school counselor? This...[ read more ]