Dr. Dimitra Robokos Psychological Services PLLC

12/20/2025

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/publications/health-matters/the-positives-of-social-media-for-teens-and-how-parents-can-guide-safe-use

It’s easy to think of social media as the villain in every teen’s story, but it doesn’t have to be. Focusing only on the negatives overlooks an important reality: social media can help teens connect, create, and discover who they are — especially when guided to use it thoughtfully and safely...

12/20/2025

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/were_missing_the_good_news_about_youth_mental_health

There is a lot of positive news about young people's well-being that is not receiving much attention.

12/04/2025

A Guide to Academic Accommodations: Every child learns differently. For students with learning disabilities, physical impairments, or neurological differences, traditional classroom settings can present unnecessary barriers to success.

However, schools are legally required to provide accommodations that level the playing field, ensuring all students have equal access to education. Understanding what accommodations are available and how to access them can make a transformative difference in a child's academic journey.

Considering the diversity of student needs, academic accommodations should directly target and address specific challenge areas. Four categories of disabilities that may qualify a student for accommodations are:

Visual impairment: A student who has difficulty reading small print may be offered audio versions of class texts, larger print on handouts, or braille materials. They may also benefit from being assigned a seat close to the teacher or blackboard.

Specific learning disabilities: If a student has dyslexia, for instance, which creates challenges in decoding written language, audiobooks or reading software may help make reading assignments more accessible. Specific learning disabilities may also qualify a student for extended time on tests and assignments.

ADHD: ADHD may make it difficult for a child to stay focused during long class periods, in which case a school may allow that child to take additional breaks throughout the day. A school may also consider whether a modified learning environment with fewer distractions may help a child learn better. Read More: https://therapyassociates.nyc/blog/a-guide-to-academic-accommodations

12/01/2025

The Critical Role of Play in Child Development: Children progress through distinct stages of play from infancy through childhood, each building upon the last. Play is a fundamentally voluntary, spontaneous, and enjoyable process through which children learn to interact with objects, materials, peers, parents, and caregivers in both entertaining and social ways.

As children acquire new skills, grasp concepts, and form relationships, their play becomes increasingly complex while remaining crucial to their development. Age-appropriate play at each stage supports vital growth across cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and social domains.

Not only is play enjoyable, it actually enhances brain development and structure, promotes executive function, mitigates stress, and encourages prosocial behaviors that are carried into adulthood. Play also has significant impacts on academic readiness. It inspires curiosity, which can improve memory and learning, and is associated with the development of early language and math skills. Additionally, play teaches essential relational skills such as communication, collaboration, and cooperation, which will help children adjust to evolving social environments as they age. Read more: https://childtherapysupport.com/blog/the-critical-role-of-play-in-child-development

11/12/2025

The Power of Positive Self-Talk: When we aren't interacting with others, we engage in continuous dialogue within our own minds.

From narrating our morning routine to internally debating an important decision, our inner voice shapes our everyday actions, behaviors, emotions, and perceptions. This mental dialogue varies dramatically from person to person. Some individuals possess an optimistic and self-supportive inner voice, while others tend to speak negatively to themselves. The good news? Regardless of your starting point, positive self-talk can be cultivated through intentional daily practice and cognitive reframing.

Recognizing and Reframing Negative Thoughts
To support our positive inner voices, we first need to identify negative thoughts as they arise and replace them with more productive ones. Negative self-talk appears in statements like "This will never work out" or "I can't do this." By thinking or internally making these assertions, we actually program ourselves to feel inadequate or incapable. These thoughts often come from self-blame, focusing on negative aspects of situations while ignoring positive ones, catastrophizing, and magnifying challenges. Read More: https://therapyassociates.nyc/blog/the-power-of-positive-self-talk

11/07/2025

Understanding Twice-Exceptional (2e) Children: Children with "twice exceptionality," or 2e, are a commonly overlooked and educationally underserved group.

Although not a formal diagnosis in itself, twice-exceptionality describes individuals who possess significant intellectual talents in one or more areas while also meeting criteria for a learning or developmental disability. These children might excel in math, writing, music, critical thinking, scientific reasoning, or creative pursuits. They often perform above average in one or many school subjects but struggle considerably in others. Alongside these talents however, 2e individuals experience one or more neuropsychological challenges, including ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder, etc. When this imbalance between strengths and challenges goes unrecognized, it can lead to diagnostic confusion, emotional distress, and behavioral difficulties. Read More: https://childtherapysupport.com/blog/understanding-twice-exceptional-2e-children

11/05/2025

Why Children’s Mental Health Matters at Every Stage: Mental health is just as important as physical health, and it begins early. From the time a baby is in the womb through the teenage years, mental health significantly influences how children grow, learn, communicate, and build relationships.

As child development professionals, parents, peers, and individuals, understanding the various influences on mental health at each stage of childhood can help us better support children, families, and ourselves.

A child’s mental health journey begins before they are even born when a mother’s health, stress levels, and exposure to toxins during pregnancy can affect their baby’s brain development. As children grow, they undergo physical changes and are exposed to various environmental factors that continue to influence their emotional and behavioral development. These factors span across micro and macro levels.

From changes in neural circuits to large-scale natural disasters, youth mental health is influenced by complex biological, environmental, economic, and social factors. These elements have a particularly strong impact during childhood and adolescence, as these are critical periods of brain development. A developing and adaptable brain absorbs new information easily. That’s why many mental health conditions often begin during these stages. Research indicates that approximately 75% of mental health disorders start before age 25 (Uhlhaas et al., 2023).
Read more: https://therapyassociates.nyc/blog/why-childrens-mental-health-matters-at-every-stage

10/06/2025

Understanding and Harnessing the Therapeutic Power of Music: Music is often described as a universal language, capable of evoking emotions, memories, and connections across cultures.

However, despite its casual popularity, scientific journals from as early as the 1800’s have also recognized music for its therapeutic potential. In recent decades, research has increasingly demonstrated that music is not only an art form but an empirically supported therapeutic tool. Thus, music therapy has emerged as a recognized practice that can support individuals’ mental, emotional, cognitive, and physical health.

Defining Music Therapy
The American Music Therapy Association (2005) officially defines music therapy as “the clinical & evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program”. Here in New York at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, future practitioners can become equipped with the education to work one-on-one with clients and implement interventions as trained music therapists. This requires both theoretical knowledge and intensive clinical experience and can be highly fulfilling work in a growing field. Read more: https://therapyassociates.nyc/blog/understanding-and-harnessing-the-therapeutic-power-of-music

09/30/2025

The Importance of Early Intervention: Psychological disorders, ranging from anxiety and depression to neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), affect individuals at all ages.

Research has consistently shown that identifying these conditions early and implementing timely intervention greatly improves long-term outcomes. Early assessment and intervention not only provide a clearer picture of a child’s challenges, but also help families, schools, and providers develop personalized and effective strategies that foster growth, resilience, and overall well-being.

Why Early Testing Matters... Read more
https://childtherapysupport.com/blog/the-importance-of-early-intervention

09/09/2025

https://therapyassociates.nyc/blog/the-power-of-peer-support-and-mentorship-in-childrens-and-young-adults-mental-health
In recent years, conversations around children’s mental health have become more urgent—and more public.

With rising rates of anxiety, depression, and emotional distress among young people, families, educators, and mental health professionals alike are seeking ways to build resilience and promote well-being from an early age. While therapy, family involvement, and school-based programs all play vital roles, two often underestimated but profoundly effective approaches are peer support and peer mentorship.

08/26/2025

In a famous anecdote by author David Foster Wallace, he described a conversation between two fish:

“There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys. How's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the [heck] is water?”

This exchange, although humorous, reflects a deep truth about the way we live our life. When we live, breathe, and exist in something for so long, we often rarely stop to consider it and how it affects us. In fact, unless someone brings our attention to it, we might never notice the ‘water’ we are living in. Read more:

https://therapyassociates.nyc/blog/invisible-environmental-influences-on-mental-health

07/02/2025

https://therapyassociates.nyc/blog/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-for-neurodiverse-individuals-modifying-traditional-cb-strategies-to-help-children-and-adolescents-with-autism Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, also called CBT, is one of the most well researched and studied forms of child therapy to exist in the mental health field.

A growing amount of literature, however, has found that for children who have Autism, CBT may not be as effective for them as it is for neurotypical kids. This may be due to a variety of reasons, such as CBT frequently relying on abstract thinking, interpersonal awareness, and flexibility of thought that not all children with autism have to the same level as neurotypical kids.

Due to these differences, recent scholars, researchers, and therapists have proposed a form of Modified CBT or M-CBT, in order to help children with autism obtain similar benefits. The core ideas behind CBT remain the same, including the emphasis on identifying maladaptive beliefs and behaviors, and attempting to replace them with more effective or less harmful beliefs/behaviors.