by Jim & Lynea Gillen | Mar 3, 2017 | Mental Health
Emotional loss is part of the human condition and, though painful, is part of our growth into caring, compassionate adults. Grief is the process through which we heal. Many of us grow up without learning how to grieve in healthy ways, how to let go of the pain while...
by Lynea Gillen | Nov 13, 2016 | Media, Mental Health
Several years ago, the children in the 6th grade classroom I was visiting as a school counselor started to talk about the dangers in the world and how many “bad” people there were “out there.” I asked them to tell me more. They told me about stories from the news,...
by Jim Gillen | Apr 11, 2015 | Health, Mental Health, Physical Fitness
It looks like schools aren’t the only place where exercise is getting the short shrift these days. According to new research out of Oregon State University, it’s largely absent from the medical school curriculum, too. Just over half of US medical schools offer no...
by Jim Gillen | Jun 16, 2014 | Class plans, Families, Mental Health, Trauma
Within a day of last week’s shooting at Reynolds High School in Troutdale – just outside of Portland here and where some of Lynea’s colleagues work – several particular posts about it began cropping up on Facebook a lot. One was especially sad and sobering: Though...
by Jim Gillen | Jan 9, 2013 | Mental Health, Trauma
A few years ago, after hearing news of another mass shooting, I sat with the principal of the rural elementary school where I worked as a counselor, feeling sad and discouraged. Then he said something I’ve never forgotten: “The children you save never make the...
by Jim Gillen | Jul 25, 2012 | Families, Mental Health, Trauma
What do you tell a child when a horrific event like the Colorado theater shooting happens? Many parents are asking, just as the host of AM Northwest asked Lynea during her recent appearance on the program. (You can watch the full interview here.) Helping soothe...