Body image—the way we perceive, think, and feel about our own bodies—has become a growing mental health concern for children and adolescents. While struggles with body image may seem like something that doesn’t fully emerge until the tween or teenage years, research shows that children as young as 5 years old can express dissatisfaction with their bodies. This early onset of body image struggles has ripple effects on a child's self-esteem, mental health, and overall well-being.

Whether it’s during your teen’s annual physical, in response to a comment your teen has made, or you start to feel concerned about behaviors you are seeing at home, talking to your teen about weight can be a tricky topic to navigate. As eating disorder therapists, Dr. Rogers and Dr. Hosford often hear parents express deep care and concern for their children, while also feeling stuck with how to go about communicating these concerns. We hope you learn some helpful tips from their insights in today's article.

For many students, middle school is a three year period of social, academic, and personal transitions. After gradually developing friendships and academic abilities during elementary school, transferring to a new school with new peers, teachers, and expectations can be quite a shock! So what are some of the issues that our middle school kids face?

Today’s blog is a fun interview with our very first GOG Workshop speaker, Dr. Kristin Daley! She is one of the country’s leading experts in behavioral sleep and we’re so fortunate to have her right here in Charlotte. Even better, we’ll have the chance to meet her in person next month as she shares strategies around something that impacts us all: getting better sleep. Join us as Dr. Daley shares a sneak peek in our GOG Mom Workshop on September 6th with tips and strategies for busy families getting back to school and hormonal moms navigating perimenopause and menopause!

It happened again early this morning. I was awakened with eyes welling up with tears, with a few that actually streamed down the side of my face when I was realizing once again “it was only a dream.” The difference today was that I wasn’t mourning the loss of anyone who passed away in real life or in my dream. Rather, I felt a deep sadness around the loss of the little girl my first born is no more.

Many years and generations of tried and true sleepaway camps have proven to be very beneficial for kids, teaching skills and offering exposure to experiences not available at home. They contribute to their personal, social, and emotional development, while creating memories they will cherish for a lifetime. Whether your child is 6 or 16, here are 10 compelling benefits of sleepaway camp for you to keep in mind this summer.

Due to the nature of summer and all the insecurities that come along with it (helloooo swimsuits, tank tops and shorts!) I’ve shared some of the things I plan to keep top of mind as we make our way through June and beyond so that I can focus more on fun with family and less on my own insecurities. These acts of self-compassion will hopefully also pass on to my girls over the summer months and years to come. I hope you find them useful too!

“Girlhood can be tough and every child has different needs. Seeing this play out within my own family and others has inspired me to start GOG.”