Adolescence

Nystrom & Associates Provided Behavioral Health Services to 100,000 People through 1 Million Visits in 2023

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nystrom & Associates helped more people in 2023 than any year in its 30+ year history. Over 100,000 people in five states received therapy, psychiatry or substance use treatment services through more than 1 million in-person or telehealth visits.

Key Points: 
  • Over 100,000 people in five states received therapy, psychiatry or substance use treatment services through more than 1 million in-person or telehealth visits.
  • "There is such a tremendous need for mental health and substance use services," said Mark Peterson, CEO, Nystrom & Associates.
  • Nystrom & Associates has immediate openings in psychiatry, therapy and substance use treatment – even for services such as child and adolescent psychiatry.
  • For more information on the services Nystrom & Associates provides and to schedule an appointment please call 1-844-NYSTROM.

No more BMI, diets or ‘bad’ foods: why changing how we teach kids about weight and nutrition is long overdue

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Or perhaps we remember references to calories and diets in the classroom.

Key Points: 
  • Or perhaps we remember references to calories and diets in the classroom.
  • Given what we know about the links between weight stigma and the development of eating disorders, they’re long overdue.

Weight stigma starts early

  • Weight stigma and diet culture are rife in our society.
  • On the flip side, the latest diets and other weight loss techniques are regularly hot topics of conversation among friends and colleagues.
  • Peer teasing for size, weight and shape is common and increases the risk of a child or young person developing an eating disorder.

Fostering positive body image

  • For eating disorders specifically, positive role modelling by adults around how we talk about our own and others’ bodies is crucial.
  • Research shows learning about body acceptance and appreciation is important for both males and females in developing a positive body image.
  • Teachers have an important role in educating our children about body respect and having a healthy relationship with their bodies and eating.

How to talk about food with kids

  • We need to talk about food for its function in our bodies (such as carbohydrates for energy and fats for our brain).
  • We should talk about foods we eat to help us concentrate and fuel our bodies as well as making us strong and helping us feel well.
  • Here's why

    Food should also be presented as an enjoyable and a social activity (for example, sharing food with others).

Everyone has a role

  • As adults we have to work really hard to be better role models.
  • While teachers play a crucial role, children also need other adults to go to who make them feel understood and accepted.


Dr Vivienne Lewis works for the University of Canberra and runs her own Clinical Psychology practice.

Truth Initiative and Kaiser Permanente Join Forces with EVERFI from Blackbaud to Teach Students About the Dangers of Vaping Cannabis

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 5, 2024

CHARLESTON, S.C. and WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Truth Initiative, the organization behind truth®, the nationally recognized, proven-effective youth and young adult tobacco and opioid prevention public education campaigns, and Kaiser Permanente have teamed up again with EVERFI® from Blackbaud®, the leader in powering social impact through education, to bring teachers and students two new lessons to specifically address the growing problem of cannabis-filled vapes. The new lessons, included in the popular Vaping: Know the truth tobacco prevention and cessation course, provide teachers with a trusted educational resource at a time when many of today's teens are directly combining tobacco and cannabis use. The curriculum is used in high schools across the United States and has enrolled more than one million students in less than three years.

Key Points: 
  • Among youth aged 12-17, co-use of cannabis and tobacco is more prevalent than using either substance on its own.
  • The new cannabis-focused lessons equip students with knowledge regarding cannabis in vaping products, including short- and long-term health effects, consequences, and risks.
  • Launched in late 2020, Vaping: Know the truth is a national youth vaping prevention course designed to educate students about the dangers of vaping nicotine, cannabis, and co-use.
  • Vaping: Know the truth and the new cannabis lessons are currently available to schools nationwide at no cost.

Celebrating 20 Years of Inspiration and Community: Flickr's Milestone Anniversary

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 5, 2024

Since its inception on February 10, 2004, it has revolutionized the way people share and explore photography, bridging geographical distances and connecting diverse perspectives.

Key Points: 
  • Since its inception on February 10, 2004, it has revolutionized the way people share and explore photography, bridging geographical distances and connecting diverse perspectives.
  • Celebrating its 20th birthday, Flickr stands as the world's largest and most active community of photographers.
  • But as so many web projects do, one aspect of their work took on a life of its own.
  • When Flickr added revolutionary, community-focused features like tagging, comments, groups, and favorites shortly after launch, their growth skyrocketed.

Spielwarenmesse consolidates its position as sole global industry event

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 5, 2024

Between 30 January and 3 February, the entire industry came together at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre for its sole global event of the year.

Key Points: 
  • Between 30 January and 3 February, the entire industry came together at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre for its sole global event of the year.
  • "As the leading trade fair, the Spielwarenmesse is the place where everyone from all over the world meets.
  • The trade fair and marketing services provider Spielwarenmesse eG is the organiser of the Spielwarenmesse® – the leading international trade fair for toys, hobbies and leisure.
  • A new addition for 2022 is the multifunctional platform Spielwarenmesse® Digital, as a complementary service to the Spielwarenmesse.

Spielwarenmesse consolidates its position as sole global industry event

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 5, 2024

Between 30 January and 3 February, the entire industry came together at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre for its sole global event of the year.

Key Points: 
  • Between 30 January and 3 February, the entire industry came together at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre for its sole global event of the year.
  • "As the leading trade fair, the Spielwarenmesse is the place where everyone from all over the world meets.
  • The trade fair and marketing services provider Spielwarenmesse eG is the organiser of the Spielwarenmesse® – the leading international trade fair for toys, hobbies and leisure.
  • A new addition for 2022 is the multifunctional platform Spielwarenmesse® Digital, as a complementary service to the Spielwarenmesse.

New research shows some gains but fresh difficulties in combating child sexual abuse

Retrieved on: 
Monday, February 5, 2024

The best evidence of this comes from the 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), which surveyed 8,500 Australians aged 16 and over.

Key Points: 
  • The best evidence of this comes from the 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), which surveyed 8,500 Australians aged 16 and over.
  • The ACMS found 28.5% of the national population has experienced sexual abuse before age 18 by any person (adult or adolescent).
  • Reducing child sexual abuse is a major challenge for public health and gender equality.
  • This means not everyone who experiences child sexual abuse has the same outcomes.

Who inflicts child sexual abuse?


Our analysis identified four different types of adult who inflict child sexual abuse:
We also identified four classes of perpetrators aged under 18:
This is important because while it is well understood that adults inflict child sexual abuse, discussions about its prevention often overlook that it is often inflicted by people aged under 18, and do not consider perpetration by specific groups.

Read more:
Major study reveals two-thirds of people who suffer childhood maltreatment suffer more than one kind

Child sexual abuse by adults

  • Child sexual abuse by adults has always been and remains a major problem.
  • The ACMS found a devastating 18.5% of all Australians aged 16 and over had experienced child sexual abuse by an adult.
  • However, child sexual abuse by adults has declined, especially by parents/adult family members and institutional adults.

Child sexual abuse by adolescents


Worryingly, child sexual abuse by adolescents aged under 18 has increased in recent years. The ACMS found 18.2% of Australians aged 16-24 (nearly 1 in 5) experienced sexual abuse by an adolescent before age 18. The majority is inflicted against girls by:
male adolescents the victim knew, and who were not their current or former boyfriend
current or former boyfriends.

  • These conditions have driven major initiatives such as Teach Us Consent and have galvanised other new approaches to reduce teen sexual violence.
  • Read more:
    There are reports some students are making sexual moaning noises at school.

From evidence to opportunity

  • But this evidence provides an opportunity for those involved in its prevention and the community to reduce sexual violence in the next generation.
  • However, increased child sexual abuse perpetration by males in this age group highlights a contemporary normalisation of sexual violence.

What more can be done?

  • Educating children about their bodies, healthy relationships, consent, sex, empathy and gender equality instils key prosocial attributes required to reduce sexual violence.
  • Governments also play a huge role in implementing preventive public health approaches.
  • In a landmark advance, the Australian government recently committed to mandating consent education in the National Curriculum.

Shaping our future

  • We must change the still too-common sense of entitlement to girls’ and women’s bodies.
  • Instead, we must help boys and men develop more empathy and respect for girls and women.


Ben Mathews is the Lead Investigator of the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS). The ACMS received research funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, and additional funding and contributions were provided by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Department of Social Services, the Australian Institute of Criminology. Chanel Contos is the founder of Teach Us Consent.

MaxCyte and Wugen Sign Strategic Platform License to Expedite Scale-Up of Clinical and Commercial Manufacturing of Wugen’s Investigational Allogeneic, Off-the-Shelf Cell Therapies for Cancers

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Under the terms of the agreement, Wugen gains non-exclusive clinical and commercial rights to use MaxCyte’s Flow Electroporation® technology and ExPERT™ platform.

Key Points: 
  • Under the terms of the agreement, Wugen gains non-exclusive clinical and commercial rights to use MaxCyte’s Flow Electroporation® technology and ExPERT™ platform.
  • Wugen is developing the next generation of off-the-shelf memory natural killer (NK) and CAR-T cell therapies for cancer.
  • The company’s investigational cell therapies originate from healthy donors and are further engineered to enhance their function of eliminating cancer cells.
  • Wugen is MaxCyte’s 26th clinical/commercial partnership overall, each of which generates pre-commercial milestone revenue, the vast majority of which includes sales-based payments.

Nearly One-Third of High Schoolers May Opt Out of College Due to Mental Health Concerns

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Washington, DC, Jan. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new survey from education company EAB shows that nearly one-third (28%) of high school students who are currently applying or considering applying to college cite mental health concerns as a reason they may choose to delay enrollment or opt out of college entirely.

Key Points: 
  • Washington, DC, Jan. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new survey from education company EAB shows that nearly one-third (28%) of high school students who are currently applying or considering applying to college cite mental health concerns as a reason they may choose to delay enrollment or opt out of college entirely.
  • The issue is most prominent among trans (54%), nonbinary (53%), Black (33%), Native American (30%), and female students (30%).
  • The supports cited most frequently by respondents include mental health sick days (55%), programs to facilitate social connections (43%), an on-campus counseling center (34%), simplified/easier-to-understand leave policies (27%), and free mental health apps/online tools (25%).
  • “Recently, we expanded the free tools that we provide to help high school students explore and apply to colleges,” Koppenheffer added.

Alleva Showcases Innovative EMR & CRM Practice Management Platform at the 2024 NATSAP Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 2, 2024

Alleva showcased its innovative EMR, CRM, and Business Intelligence Platforms, which have been designed to streamline the workflow of behavioral health providers, reduce costs, and improve client care.

Key Points: 
  • Alleva showcased its innovative EMR, CRM, and Business Intelligence Platforms, which have been designed to streamline the workflow of behavioral health providers, reduce costs, and improve client care.
  • Alleva's team of helpers and experts were on hand to answer questions and provide personalized demos of their innovative platforms.
  • If you were unable to attend the 2024 NATSAP Annual Conference, but want to learn more about Alleva's program management platform, please visit our website HelloAlleva.com or contact us directly at marketing@helloalleva.
  • Alleva is a leading provider of EMR software solutions for the behavioral health and addiction recovery sectors.