• August 2015 Newsletter Square

    Bridge to Wholeness | Volume 2 Issue 8 August 2015

    Welcome to the August 2015 Issue of the Agape newsletter, Bridge to Wholeness! Our monthly newsletter is the best way for you to keep up with what is going on around Agape, with events and updates, and articles written by our counselors. We hope it will help bring you a little bit closer to emotional, mental, and spiritual wholeness! In this issue (click to read individual articles): Adolescent Girls: The Transition from Childhood to Adulthood by Megan Jung, MA, LPC Sensory Processing Disorder in Children by Teresa Weeke, MA, PLPC Accentuate the Positive by Kathyrn Manley, MS, LPC, CST Back to School – Tips for Getting Through the Morning by Carolyn Knarr,…

  • Adolescent Girls Transition to Adulthood

    Adolescent Girls: The Transition from Childhood to Adulthood

    By Megan Jung, MA, LPC *note: this article has been edited for readability, for the original, scholarly article, click here: Jung Aug 2015 Original Article – Adolescent Girls “Olivia, get the lead out of your pants and get a purpose,” Granny often barked at her sixteen year-old granddaughter. My friend and I laughed about her grandmother’s nerve and willingness to say what many others would not. Adolescent girls are dramatic and numb, tragic and over-simplifiers, chaotic and clawing for control, and fluctuate between unmediated sorrow and joy within minutes. Many of us can empathize with Granny, and often want to scream, “Grow up! It’s not that big of a deal, and…

  • Sensory Processing Disorder in Children

    Sensory Processing Disorder in Children

    By Teresa Weeke, MA, PLPC *note: this article has been edited for readability, for the original, scholarly article, click here: Weeke Aug 2015 Original Article – Sensory Processing Disorder in Children What is it? Those who have Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), formerly known as Sensory Integration Dysfunction, experience sensory integration problems such that the input the brain receives from the senses does not match up with an appropriate response. Examples of an inappropriate response might include: temper tantrums because a child does not like how clothing feels next to the skin; eating problems relating to food texture; difficulty with coordination; non-stop activity or lethargy after simply going to the playground. SPD…

  • Back to School Tips for Getting Through the Morning

    Back to School – Tips for Getting Through the Morning

    by Carolyn Knarr, MSW, LCSW, Director of Children’s Therapeutic Services School is back in session. How is your morning going? Are your kids getting out of bed bright-eyed and bushy-tailed? Do they come down and sit for a nutritious breakfast and then cheerfully go brush their teeth and get dressed? No? What is a mother or father to do? If you’re like most parents, you may get frustrated, then annoyed, then start to nag or yell. And it is deja vu, morning after morning. Kind of like the movie “Groundhog Day.”  Nothing ever seems to get better —  but it can. And the answer isn’t nagging or yelling. Have you…