Ask Alice

In this episode of Ask Alice, Alice interviews mom Suzanne Jones on how she addresses drinking with her own teenage children. As someone who has been sober for years, Suzanne candidly and wisely offers insight to teenage drinking after being in the depths herself. She and Alice discuss the driving factors of underaged drinking, as well as warning signs for parents to look for. Their conversation includes practical methods for parents to openly discuss the dangers and consequences of drinking and ways to provide teenagers with in-the-moment excuses when they are offered alcohol. Suzanne encourages parents to offer grace without shame while still enforcing consequences for illegal behavior. You’ll learn that there is hope for the teenager who drinks to fit in, escape, or numb— all found in Jesus.

Resources:

Suzanne Jones is a jewelry designer based in Birmingham, Alabama. She and her husband have four children, and she loves sharing her experience of walking away from alcohol in early 2000’s and the transformation of her life and marriage.

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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare

To Drink or Not to Drink: Is That Really the Question? By Liz Edrington

Underage Drinking: Just Say YES! (Sort Of) by Cameron Cole

Sharon Hersh on the Anatomy of Addiction

In this episode of Ask Alice, licensed professional counselor Alice Churnock speaks with veteran pediatrician Stacey Gilbert, who answers questions from parents who are exploring medication as an option for their children. Dr. Gilbert dispels myths and encourages a balanced perspective on meds. With so many confusing and conflicting reports about medication, this episode of Ask Alice allows parents to hear the truth directly from a professional.

Dr. Gilbert addresses the following questions:

How young is too young to put a child on medication?

What would cause you to start a child on meds ? What symptoms are you looking for?

How long do most kids take meds and are they addictive?

What is a black box warning and should that deter us from starting a kid on meds?

How do medications work – what do they do for the brain?

As a Christian, how can I justify placing my child on medication?

On the Rooted blog , we work to address teen depression through the lens of the Gospel. Here are some articles and podcasts we hope you and the parents of your students will find helpful:

Only the Gospel Will Save Teens From Their Anxiety by Seth Stewart

To the Parent Struggling With a Struggling Teen by Kristen Hatton

Parenting A Child With Major Depressive Disorder by Ingram Link

Rooted Podcast: Dave Thomas on Adolescent Anxiety

Rooted Podcast: Gospel Contextualization of Anxiety and Academic Pressure in Affluent Suburban and Asian American Contexts with Cameron Cole and Clark Fobes

In addition, check out the Special Challenges section of our Resources tab for more Rooted articles and other resources on topics such as depression, grief, and perfectionism.

This podcast is made available to you by the Rooted Ministry for educational purposes only, not to provide specific therapeutic advice. The views expressed are the personal perspectives of the author and do not represent the views of all counselors or the profession. This podcast does not create a counselor-client relationship and should not be used as a substitute for competent therapeutic counsel from a licensed professional in your state.

From Alice: The past week has been up and down in my office as the thought of heading back to school is starting to slap us all in the face. Where we live school starts in very early August. Just about every kid I’ve talked to has wanted to process their upcoming school schedule. So while the kids are dealing with disappointment, we’ve had some excellent parent questions this week on how to handle the let-downs our kids are facing.

Here are a couple of the questions Alice will be addressing in this month’s episode:

Riley Reed, a mom of three in Nashville: “My oldest daughter is 12 years old and she’s dedicated her time and energy to an incredible theater group in town. She’s put in long hours, paid for extra training and received high scores in the placement levels. However, for some unknown reason, she was not asked to advance to the upper level ensemble when a lot of her friends did. She’s sad, but honestly, I’m mad. How can I walk rightly with her through this disappointment, while I’m still hurt and frustrated too?”

Virginia in Virginia: “My son is going into 3rdgrade this year and several of his friends have moved away or are going to a different school. He’s so upset that he’s already made up his mind that its going to be a horrible year. How can I help him push past his disappointment and make the most of a hard situation?”

This podcast is made available to you by the Rooted Ministry for educational purposes only, not to provide specific therapeutic advice. The views expressed are the personal perspectives of the author and do not represent the views of all counselors or the profession. This podcast does not create a counselor-client relationship and should not be used as a substitute for competent therapeutic counsel from a licensed professional in your state.