The Grief No One Tells You About

By Serena Menken / March 18, 2026 /

The night my daughter, Ellie, told me she was suicidal, I curled up on the couch and sobbed. I didn’t realize it then, but that was the beginning of my own grief journey.  It’s only in hindsight that I can trace the ways grief colored my family’s year of crisis. Recently, as I was a…

Why Parents Need to Name our Emotions

By Serena Menken / May 18, 2024 /

As parents of teens with mental health challenges, we may be so focused on helping our children that we fail to notice our own emotions. But as we name feelings such as anger, fear, grief, despair, and joy, we will help our children and ourselves heal.  Facing our Emotions By Monday morning, I had already…

5 Tips to Find a Eating Disorder Therapist For Your Teen

By Serena Menken / March 23, 2024 /

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and confused by the maze of finding the right eating disorder therapist for your teen, these tips can make the process easier. A Glimpse of Our Story of Finding an Eating Disorders Therapist Just before Thanksgiving 2020, my daughter Ellie summoned the courage to tell me that she had an eating…

You’re Not Alone: Parenting Teens with Mental Health Challenges

By Serena Menken / January 31, 2024 /

If you feel terrified and isolated in parenting teens with mental health challenges, you are not alone. I’m so glad you’re here. I hope you find hope and companionship in this hard journey. Join me here and on Substack to hear about what has helped many of us find solutions and self-care in parenting teens…