Dr. Elizabeth Carr
Advice Column: Avoiding Rejection During Internship Application Season
Q: My daughter, a high school senior, can leave school midday for an internship. Many of her friends have already found one. She’s stressed but increasingly avoids applying to more places and pushes back on every suggestion I make. How can I help? A: Stress and avoidance often travel together. When friends announce their placements,…
Advice Column: Stubborn Teen
Question: My son is a good kid. He’s on top of his schoolwork and does chores when asked, but from time to time he won’t budge on the most benign requests. For example, he was overseas for summer school and didn’t send a single picture with friends. I suggested he offer his old bike to…
Advice Column: Body Doubling for ADD
Question: I’m a master of procrastination. My friend mentioned “body doubling” for my ADD. What is it, and does it work? Answer: Body doubling means working alongside another person while you tackle a task you’d otherwise avoid or struggle to start. The other person is just there, doing their own thing, while you do yours….
“Am I Autistic?” And Other Questions We Ask About Ourselves
As awareness of autism, and other mental health conditions, increases, many people are asking just these kinds of questions. About themselves, their partner, or their child. They’ve noticed their husband’s quirky interest, nearing obsession, with Legos, model train sets, or memorizing certain facts. Or their child differences from their peers, or particularity about the texture…
MCPS Academic Rigor and Competition: A Teen Mental Health Perspective
By: Olivia Levinton, visiting guest journalist for Kentlands Psychotherapy High levels of academic rigor and competition among students are notorious features of MCPS high school education, affecting students’ mental health in various ways. In this piece, two rising senior teens– one MCPS student and one private school student– share their perspectives on academic competition, heightened…
Advice Column: Helping Your Child With Their Fear Of Dogs
Q: We have a five-year-old. Because I’m allergic, we don’t have a dog, although I wish we could. Our daughter seems to be developing a fear of dogs. She cries and clings to me when we’re passing neighborhood dogs. How can I support her so that this doesn’t become a lifelong problem? A: Start by…
Advice Column: Setting boundaries on childcare for your sister
Q: My sister wants me to watch her two kids this August so she can cut her childcare costs. I work from home part-time and everyone assumes I have endless availability. My mom says the cousins would bond so much if I just said “yes”, but my one-on-one time with my daughter is precious. Am…
What Netflix’s The Crash Reveals About the Real Cost of Permissive Parenting
If you’ve watched The Netflix series The Crash, you probably formed an opinion about Mackenzie Shirilla’s parents before the show even ended. Natalie and Steve Shirilla present themselves as fiercely devoted parents who unconditionally believe in their daughter. That devotion is visible and, in its way, genuine. The problem is that unconditional advocacy and effective…
Months of Stress and Nothing Is Helping: Is It Time to Consider Medication?
Q: The past several months have been non-stop stressful for me. I’m not sleeping. I’ve been a hermit lately, not seeing friends and replacing former hobbies like working out and seeing friends with doomscrolling. I’m stressed about what’s going on in the news, and nothing I’m doing, including therapy, is getting me out of this…
What Farmers Already Know About Vertical Integration and the Uncanny Similarity to What’s Happening in the Mental Health Industr
By Dr. Elizabeth Carr, Founder, Kentlands Psychotherapy This article explores how corporate consolidation in agriculture mirrors the forces shaping independent mental health practice today. What if the future of private practice looks a lot like what’s already happened to America’s family farms? I recently watched a 60 Minutes segment on corporate consolidation in American agriculture….
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