A Chance 4 Change LLC.

01/18/2026

01/18/2026

🚨 Did you know 1 in 8 teens are using AI chatbots for mental health advice?

As a therapist working with teens and families, this is something I'm paying close attention to. The research is still emerging, but experts at Stanford and UCSF are raising serious concerns:

⚠️ Chatbots don't challenge distorted thinking—they often validate it
⚠️ Extended use can stunt social skill development
⚠️ Teens may prefer AI conversations over human connection (a major red flag)

This doesn't mean all AI is bad. But it's NOT a replacement for real support.

If your teen is struggling, they need humans in their corner—not just a screen.

I've put together a free parent guide on this topic. Comment "GUIDE" or message us and I'll send it your way. 💙

01/14/2026

12/31/2025

As we step into 2026, our team at A Chance 4 Change wants you to know one thing:
You are not broken. You are not “too much.” You are not beyond repair.
You are a human being who has survived hard things—and that survival came at a cost. This year, we’re here to help you stop just surviving and start truly living.
Whether you’re a first responder carrying the weight of what you’ve witnessed, a teen trying to make sense of a world that feels overwhelming, or a family working to find your way back to each other—there is hope. There is healing. And you don’t have to do it alone.
Here’s to a new year of nervous systems finding safety, inner critics getting quieter, and YOU stepping into the person you were always meant to be.
Happy New Year from our family to yours. 💙🧡

12/29/2025

Most "teen mental health crises" actually disguise attachment crises. Anxiety, depression, self-harm - these often spike when teens become peer-oriented instead of parent-attached.

Think about it: If your sense of worth depends on likes, comments, and friend drama, of course you feel anxious. But teens with secure parental attachment? They use peer relationships for fun, not identity formation.

A therapist colleague told me: "I can predict which teens will heal faster based on their relationship with their parents, not their symptoms."

Become your teen's secure base in an insecure world. Download my "5 Warning Signs Your Teen is Pulling Away" before the crisis hits.
https://teens.melissaosen.com/

12/29/2025

Your teen's "attitude" shows emotional intelligence developing. That sarcasm? Verbal processing skills. That eye roll? Boundary setting practice. That "whatever"? Emotional self-protection.

What looks like disrespect often represents development. The teens who seem "perfectly behaved" often struggle more in adulthood because they never learned to express authentic emotions or set healthy boundaries.

A mom recently said: "Once I stopped taking her attitude personally, I could see she actually tried to communicate something important underneath it."

Learn to decode your teen's behavior instead of just correcting it. Download my "5 Warning Signs Your Teen is Pulling Away" and understand what they're really telling you.
https://teens.melissaosen.com/

12/29/2025

This poem captures something so profound about what it means to be “built for this” - that ability to show up no matter what’s happening around us.

For the child who learned early that they had to be the steady one, the responsible one, the protector.

What strikes me most is that line: “Will she see a problem? Or will she see me?”

That hypervigilance, that constant scanning for whether we’re going to be seen as broken or as capable - it follows so many of us into adulthood.

Some of us channel it into careers as police officers, EMTs, therapists, doctors, or firefighters, becoming the ones others rely on in crisis.

Others turn inward, withdrawing behind screens and isolation when the weight of “showing up” becomes too much.

This poem hits home for me on so many levels because I see this story everywhere - in the EMT who can save lives but struggles to ask for help, in the police officer who protects others but can’t protect themselves from burnout, in the therapist who holds space for everyone else’s pain, in the teen who’s been the family’s emotional caretaker and now can’t connect with peers, in the parent watching their anxious teen withdraw and recognizing their own childhood patterns.

The same resilience that helped us survive can become the very thing that keeps us stuck. When “showing up” becomes our only mode, we lose touch with what we actually need to thrive.

Whether you’re a frontline professional learning to show up FOR yourself, or a parent helping your teen find their way back to connection and belonging - that child who learned to be strong deserves to be seen, to heal, and to discover they’re truly built for so much more than just surviving. 💙

12/29/2025

School approaches and you already stress about homework battles.

Plot twist: The problem isn't your teen's work ethic. It's their nervous system.

When teens experience chronic stress (hello, modern adolescence), their brain literally cannot access higher-order thinking skills. They remain stuck in survival mode.

You can't think your way out of a dysregulated nervous system. But when teens feel safe, seen, and supported? Academic success becomes natural.

A parent told me: "Once I stopped playing homework police and became his stress coach, his grades improved without any battles."

Set your family up for academic success before the pressure hits. Download my "6 Summer Strategies" and become your teen's secret weapon this school year.
https://melissaosen.com/6SS/

12/29/2025

You're not losing your teenager. You're failing to evolve with them. Harsh? Maybe. True? Absolutely.

Using 8-year-old parenting strategies on a 16-year-old brain feels like bringing a flip phone to a smartphone fight. Their brain has literally reorganized. Your approach needs to reorganize too.

The parents who maintain connection through adolescence? They learn to parent the brain their teen has NOW, not the brain they used to have.

A mom said: "I treated him like he remained my little boy. No wonder he felt misunderstood."

Stop parenting the child they used to be and start connecting with the young adult they're becoming. Download my "5 Warning Signs Your Teen is Pulling Away" and level up your approach.
https://teens.melissaosen.com/