Conversations With Kidspeace

It’s a role-playing game that’s been around for more than forty years, but Dungeons & Dragons is finding new popularity these days -- and at KidsPeace, it’s also found a new role in helping young people with autism. On the latest installment of Conversations with KidsPeace, therapist Rob Harvey describes how he’s turned his passion for Dungeons & Dragons into a surprisingly successful approach to learning and practicing social skills and teamwork for his clients – who are having fun at the same time! Bob Martin hosts.

The heart of KidsPeace’s TeenCentral.com service lies in the stories shared by visitors, and the therapeutic support responses they receive. In the latest installment of our podcast series Conversations with KidsPeace, host Bob Martin talks with KidsPeace Board of Directors chair Dr. Scott Reines about his family’s donation to the service aimed at keeping its heart beating for future visitors.

Amid COVID-19 and other challenges that are dividing our society, the latest edition of Conversations with KidsPeace podcast tells an inspirational story of connection. Host Bob Martin talks with a recreational therapist about how kids in our residential treatment program found a way to share a message of hope with residents of local nursing homes, as both face the stress of pandemic lockdowns.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, KidsPeace is rolling out a unique initiative to help people connect across the divide of social distancing – The KidsPeace Virtual Hug. Vice President Ann McCauley joins host Bob Martin in a new special edition of “Conversations with KidsPeace” to explain how an offhand comment from a client in treatment led to the Virtual Hug – and to demonstrate it by sending one out to a special group of heroes.

A mental or behavioral health crisis is terrifying enough for an individual or their family in the best of times, but it’s even worse during a global crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. KidsPeace’s outpatient offices in the Lehigh Valley and Monroe County offer free walk-in assessments for those in crisis – providing guidance on their next steps in resolving the crisis while keeping them out of hospital emergency rooms at this critical time. KidsPeace Outpatient Program Manager Harvie Oliver discusses what happens during one of these assessments, in a special episode of the “Conversations with KidsPeace” podcast. Bob Martin hosts.

On a special edition of the “Conversations with KidsPeace” podcast, we discuss KidsPeace’s TeenCentral.com service and the role it can play amid the COVID-19 crisis. TeenCentral.com leader Jodi Whitcomb offers insights into how her team is providing specific information on coping with COVID-19, while continuing to give young people a safe place to ask questions, share stories and seek advice in a time when they may feel more alone than ever before. Bob Martin hosts.

The Conversations with KidsPeace podcast returns for its third season just in time for Valentine’s Day 2020 – and examines the phenomenon of “young love”… Therapist Breannah Allen discusses how young people deal with romantic attraction and attachments, and ways parents can help them navigate those situations.  Bob Martin hosts.

The new issue of KidsPeace’s Healing Magazine is out now, and on the Conversations with KidsPeace podcast host Bob Martin talks with three contributors who shared their stories of the therapeutic benefits that pets, animals and nature can provide.

Treating a child suffering from mental or behavioral health challenges often involves treating their families, too. On the latest Conversations with KidsPeace podcast, host Bob Martin welcomes back therapists Adrienne Pauling and Michelle Callahan to discuss the importance of family therapy and ways it can make a difference in helping kids thrive.

The next “Conversations” podcast discusses a program from a local hospital network that seeks to care for the physical and mental health needs of members of our community who are our “street neighbors.” Bob Martin hosts.  More information about the Street Medicine initiative can be found at https://www.lvhn.org/community-health/street-medicine-program

On the latest Conversations with KidsPeace podcast, host Bob Martin talks with Dr. Caron Farrell, the new Vice President of Medical Affairs at KidsPeace Hospital, about her philosophy of care and how an interdisciplinary approach can lead to better results for the kids treated at the Hospital.

For the past year, kids in KidsPeace’s autism programs in the Lehigh Valley have had a place to play designed for their particular needs.  On the latest episode of the Conversations with KidsPeace podcast, host Bob Martin tours the playground with program manager Alexis Harvey to learn what makes it a special experience for our clients.

On the latest episode of Conversations with KidsPeace, a teacher shares what she WISHES parents would know about their kids heading Back to School. Bob Martin hosts. To subscribe to the podcast, go to iTunes or Google Play and search “Conversations with KidsPeace.” Also check out our YouTube channel for more content.

The latest installment of the Conversations with KidsPeace podcast examines how the organization is dealing with a tight labor market for skilled healthcare professionals. Bob Martin hosts. To subscribe to the podcast, go to iTunes or Google Play and search “Conversations with KidsPeace.” Also check out our YouTube channel for more content.

The Spring/Summer issue of Healing Magazine Is now available and on the latest Conversations with KidsPeace podcast, host Bob Martin talks with two of the magazine’s contributors – discussing KidsPeace’s 40 years of foster care services, and a new approach to treating addiction and underlying mental health issues as the same time. To subscribe to the podcast, go to iTunes or Google Play and search “Conversations with KidsPeace.” Also check out our YouTube channel for more content. The Spring/Summer 2019 edition has a special section, “Foster Care at 40” – which looks at fostering from a variety of perspectives: An examination of how the service has evolved from the 1970s to today Views of a Member of Congress on how policy initiatives can support families better An hour-by-hour description of “a typical day in foster care” (proving there’s no such thing), by the voices behind the popular Foster Talk blog series And ideas and suggestions from the most important people in the discussion – foster kids

In time for Mother’s Day, the Conversations with KidsPeace podcast brings you a story of one woman’s struggle with a child in mental health crisis, and how she and her family found the help they needed through KidsPeace’s outpatient programs. Guest host Dr. Ashleigh Anderson talks with Gosia Sutliffe about navigating the health care system to find the right path for her child and her family. To subscribe to the podcast, go to iTunes or Google Play and search “Conversations with KidsPeace.” Also check out our YouTube channel for more content.

For the first time in over a decade, a new individual is in the top management position at KidsPeace. New Interim President and CEO Michael Slack discusses his career and vision for the organization on the latest Conversations with KidsPeace podcast. Bob Martin hosts. To subscribe to the podcast, go to iTunes or Google Play and search “Conversations with KidsPeace.” Also check out our YouTube channel for more content.

KidsPeace offices in Pennsylvania have a way to help families struggling with the mystery of whether (or how) to seek help for kids in crisis … and all you have to do is walk right in.  In the latest Conversations with KidsPeace podcast, therapist Sara Kahler explains the free walk-in assessment program.  Bob Martin hosts.

It may be the single biggest barrier to seeking help for many suffering from a mental health condition – the stigma society associates with mental illness.  In our podcast series, host Bob Martin talks with author Michael Schlossberg and Dr. Matthew Koval as they take on the issue of stigma from personal, medical and societal perspectives – including: How a depression emerged for one of the guests during college, and how he got past “self-stigma” to seek help.  The role Robin Williams’ suicide played in prompting Schlossberg to become a public advocate for viewing mental illness as a chronic condition, and how his latest writing venture carries that message into the realm of young adult science fiction. The need to humanize depression in order to combat the stigma against treatment, especially among men and minority communities:  Why primary care physicians need to be ready for what’s called “the doorknob comment,” as the opening to learning what may truly be troubling their patient. And why turnin

(PLEASE NOTE: The audio of this episode’s discussion has been edited for privacy needs.) Mental health professionals, along with many families and individuals, are dealing with the implications of gender diversity, as society moves from a binary view of gender to multiple gender models.  On this Conversations podcast, therapist Jonna Finocchio and psychiatrist Ashleigh Anderson discuss the changes in how we view gender and their impact on caring for the gender-diverse.  Bob Martin hosts. To subscribe to the podcast, go to iTunes or Google Play and search “Conversations with KidsPeace.” Also check out our YouTube channel for more content.