This past year has been many things – it has been challenging, emotional, overwhelming, stressful, and yet it has also been inspiring and rewarding. There is no doubt about it, we have all had to change not only how we do our work but adjust our personal lives due to new stress and worry that we’ve never navigated before. How do we manage all of this and still be the very best possible version of ourselves?

My significant other doesn't believe me when I tell her I have a mental illness. It is really affecting our relationship as she doesn't respect me when I tell her I need extra time or space. How else can I show her what I am going through? 

Nexus Family Healing recently welcomed Mary Bear-Dukes to the organization’s senior executive leadership team where she will serve as Vice President of Information Technology (IT) and Quality.

The Vice President of IT & Quality is a new position being added to Nexus Family Healing and will play a vital role in creating innovative change, securing the necessary technological and continuous improvement support necessary to meet the needs of the growing organization and its agencies. This position will oversee and lead information technology and quality outcomes, including implementing a digital transformation strategy, enhancing safety and risk management. Bear-Dukes will also work to set the vision and strategy behind Nexus’ data-driven decision-making and inspire continuous quality improvement practices to achieve positive outcomes for the children and families served each year.

This past year, my oldest daughter has struggled mentally while our younger daughter has been thriving and adjusting well to change. I feel like we need to talk about mental health as a family so we can support each other, but I don’t know how to talk about it without making it feel like an attack on my oldest daughter?

Many of us are familiar with the concept of gratitude and thankfulness. Science says that feelings of gratefulness have many positive effects – from physical to psychological – making it the most popular topic for daily journals. At Nexus Family Healing, we see many youth and families who are going through difficult times and struggle to see the good in every day. That’s why we champion the practice of keeping a “joy journal.”

Based on what I am reading and learning about on the internet, I believe my 14-year-old daughter is showing signs of bipolar disorder. She has major mood swings. She will be really depressed one day and then hyper the next. How do I get her diagnosed so I can get her the help she needs?

With a heavy heart, MacKenna’s mother made the hard decision to give custody of her bright, creative, independent 12-year-old to the Department of Children and Family Services. She did so to make sure MacKenna received the help she needed. You see, MacKenna suffered from trauma at a young age and her body remembered, but her mind did not.

Conversation starters to get past the generic “I’m fine” response and learn more about how your family is feeling.

I am not a foster parent. I am an adoptive parent and an adoption professional. I am licensed for foster care only for the purposes of adoption. The children that entered my home had already been in foster placements and came to us as a new family member. Each mom and each dad, all the siblings and even the pets, have made an impact on my child and I am forever grateful to foster parents and the work they do!

My husband and I have always been devout Catholics and we have been very engaged in all aspects of our religious practices. My husband just recently announced that he does not want to be Catholic anymore and has started to attend a local non-denominational church. At first, I thought it was just a phase, but he is serious and wants nothing to do with Catholicism. We have two children, ages 6 and 8, and he wants all of us to attend his new church. I have no intent on denouncing my Catholicism and I am just heartbroken at this divide in my marriage and in our family. I am not doing well with this. I don’t know how our marriage will make it through this.