ALIVE BLOG
The Future of AI: What Parents Need to Know
Written by: Amanda McMillen, LCSW, with support by AI Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept—it’s here, shaping how our children learn, play, and interact with the digital...
Decoding the Digital World: Understanding Social Media Platforms, Their Uses, and Safety Considerations for Teens
Written by: Lisa Konick, PhD, Licensed Clinical Psychologist February 21, 2025 Social media is deeply embedded in the lives of today’s teens, influencing their social interactions, self-image, and...
Why Teens Dive In: The Pull of Social Media and What’s Missing
January 21, 2025 Amanda McMillen, LCSW, Executive Director, Alive Center Social media has become integral to teens’ lives, offering platforms for connection, creativity, and learning. Yet, while it...
They are sooooo nice!
The Alive Center has been open 5 ½ years now and we hear all kinds of wonderful things from the parents and guardians of the teens we support. From the teens that come to drop-in day in and day out,...
Is bad really all bad?
By Kandice Henning We live in a dualistic world of opposites, hot and cold, dark and light, good and bad, etc. But is bad really all bad? Or it is interlaced with silver linings, with learnings and...
Practice Makes Progress
By Jared Mason I reached a surprising milestone this year. I have been drawing for a quarter of a century. When I was a little kid, most of my drawings came in the form of doodles in the margins of...
“Words can have more power than anyone realizes, and these words, have deepened the hearts and opened the eyes of many.”
Planning for Future Employment by Dr. James Chitwood
The landscape of opportunity is evolving. The reality of the workplace is that we are in a state of drastic change. Every era has seen shifts in workplace opportunities. As with the industrial...
The Stories We Tell
By Kandice Henning What story do you tell yourself about your life? Life always continues to happen around us: ups and downs and everything in between. We cannot control life… who gets hurt, who...
To Ignore or Not to Ignore? Is that Really a Question?
By Kandice Henning, Alive Center Founder and CEO Somewhere along the way it became acceptable to ignore people as a form of communication instead of a simple “no” or “maybe”. We are living in a...
“Reflection and How it Can Make You Who You Want to Be”
By teen blogger Sam Rosacrans Summer is here, and hopefully all of of the stress and chaos from the school year has left your body already. If you’re not happy with the way your school year went,...
Discovering your passions/What makes you come alive?
By Jatin Mathur, An Alive Teen Lead We’ve all heard the horror stories of the unfortunate man or woman stuck working a 9-5 boring desk job. Conventional logic follows that the earlier you figure out...