Helpful Websites

13 Easy, Fun, Slideshows on Recreational Drugs and Youth From Stanford University.

Resource from Stanford University with 13 lessons on alcohol, opioids/fentanyl, psychedelics, and other drugs. The purpose of all of our curriculums is to encourage youth to abstain from use, but this curriculum also includes a clear harm-reduction message for youth who are experimenting or using, to provide high school students with scientifically accurate information to empower them to quit and/or reduce harm, should they choose to continue to use.

Age Appropriate Sex Education

Browse-by-age videos and other resources for kids and teens to learn about different sex topics. Includes resources for parents to educate their kids about sex and understand what is appropriate for different ages..

Alternative to Aa: Lifering Secularity Recovery

This secular recovery group is a peer-to-peer nonprofit that honors the philosophy that there are multiple pathways to recovery. LifeRing groups are abstinence based and do not support moderation and controlled use approaches.

Alternative to Abstinence

The Seven Challenges program (with adolescent and adult versions) can help people at any stage of motivation to address their drug use, co-occurring life skill deficits, and their situational and psychological problems. The Seven Challenges uses an approach called “Mastery CounselingTM,” which helps people look at what is happening in their lives, what is going well and what is problematic, without forcing the goal of abstinence onto them.

American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide (AFPS)

Resources and support for suicide prevention, including support for people who have lost someone through suicide. Includes opportunities to get involved and volunteer.

American Psychological Association (APA)

Psychology articles on various topics from the American Psychological Association (APA)

Anonymous Tip Line for Any Online Crime or Exploitation Involving Children or Teens

CyberTip Report is an anonymous tip line and online form for reporting any cybercrime that involves a child or teenager.

Anti-Bullying Resources

StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on what bullying is, what cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying.

Ask Huberman

GPT tool that answers your specific neuroscience questions

Assess Your Drinking and Tools for Cutting Back and Drinking in Moderation

Rethinking Drinking is designed for U.S. adults who drink alcohol and provides many helpful tips, tools, and resources for those who want to cut down or quit drinking.

Attachment Style Quiz

Take a quiz to find out your attachment style. Learn about the different types of attachment, what determines which style you have and why it matters in parenting and intimate relationships.

Authentic Happiness: Resources Based on Positive Psychology

Free resources from Positive Psychology – the scientific study of the strengths and values that enable people and communities to thrive. Positive psychology is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful, fulfilling lives.

This University of Pennsylvania website provides videos, readings, and other resources to learn about Positive Psychology . It includes questionnaires to assess your strengths, values, empathy and more.

Avoid Scams: Information From the Secret Service on Different Types of Scams and How to Protect Yourself

Basketball Camp

Year-round basketball clinics, classes, camps and AAU (travel/club basketball) for boys and girls ages 7 through 18, in New England and across the globe.

Breakthroughs From the Center on the Devloping Child at Harvard University

A Science-Based Approach to Building a More Promising Future for Young Children. Learn the latest findings on how children’s early circumstances affect their develping brain. “Early childhood is a time of great promise and rapid change, when the architecture of the developing brain is most open to the influence of relationships and experiences. Yet, at the same time, significant disadvantages in the life circumstances of young children can undermine their development, limit their future economic and social mobility, and thus threaten the vitality, produc-tivity, and sustainability of an entire country…””

Calendar of Teen-Approved Events in the Boston Area

The Office of Youth Engagement and Advancement (OYEA) is a central hub connecting young people to their peers and to resources and opportunities in their communities. Their mission is to uplift young voices (ages 14-25) in decision-making processes and advance the lives of youth through a calendar of teen-approved programs, events, clubs, services, and resources in the Boston area.

Career Help for Youth Seeking Mental Health Opportunities

Child Development Stages : Fact Sheets

These fact sheets list basic cognitive and social/emotional skills expected at children different ages and stages of development.

Child Development Stages by Gender

Practical guidance and resources regarding healthy gender development, important terms, how to respond to children about their own and each other’s gender expression.

Child Trauma Academy

Childhood Trauma Resources for caregivers and professionals by Bruce Perry, MD.. Excellent articles and videos on the acute and lingering effects of childhood maltreatment: abuse and neglect, on the brain and the developing child. Articles for caregivers on how to help traumatized children. Scholarly articles for professionals and others on childhood trauma from a neuroscientific perspective.

College Admissions, Summer Programs, and Gap Year Resources

This website offers Volunteer opportunities, college admissions consulting, college essay help, summer programs, gap year programs. CollegeTransitions is a team of counselors, academics, and former admission officers.

College Campus Crime and Safety Statistics

Report on Crime and safety on college campuses.

College Search

Find schools that are the right fit with this excellent tool. Comprehensive resource with unique information and reviews from students with what kids and parents really want and need to know. This site is also a resource for K-12 and grad schools.

Conversation Starters From Kids Mental Health Foundation

This document has conversation starters for parents to use with their kids so they know what to say and ask to improve their children’s mental health through meaningful dialogue.

Couples Resources and Toolkits

Practical Toolkits and resources for couples and parents to use in their relationships to foster and sustain greater love and health in the relationship.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Tools

This Website provides access to DBT tools for emotion regulation and distress tolerance for people who are already in therapy as an adjunct to their work.

Doctor Prescribed, FDA-Authorized Video Game Treatment for Kids With ADHD

EndeavorRX is a doctor prescribed, FDA-Authorized Video Game treatment for kids with ADHD

Emotional Regulation Through Music

Integrated listening is an emotion regulation tool for adults and kids that uses music and vagus nerve stimulation therapeutically. This music program, developed by Stephen Porges, is a research proven method of helping decrease stress, improve attention, and move people to a “safe and social” brain state. Includes a 5 day program that can be used by young children, those on the autism spectrum, and adults for emotion regulation.

Essential College Forms Parents Should Get Their Kids to Sign Before College: Protect Your College-Age Child and Yourself Once They Are in College and in “loco Parentis”

Important Resource for parents to identify the essential forms they should have their children sign before they leave for college, so parents can be allowed to talk with deans, staff in the counseling center, and have access to information such as transcripts and whether their child has been put on probation. Otherwise, parents are in the dark about what may be going on and helpless to intervene before the crisis escalates, since most kids cover up bad news in fear of disappointing their parents, or getting in trouble.

Excellent Resource With Advice and Videos for Youth About Potential Dangers They Face Online and What to Do

Fact Sheets on Drugs: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Scientific research on substance use and abuse from the National Institute of Drug Use (NIDA)

Fact Sheets on Drugs: United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

Get the simple facts about different drugs from the DEA. Each drug of abuse can be searched on the site and has its own fact sheet.

FactCheck.org

a project of University of Pennsylvania. This is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” resource for consumers tp sorts out what is true and what is not true on different topics and news stories with the goal of reducing the level of deception and confusion. The mission of this nonprofit is to monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Scicheck is part of this resource and answers science questions on the site, and also allows readers to email their science question and get the answer – if they don’t find the answer on the site.

Find Treatment for Substance Use and Mental Health: SAMHSA

Confidential and anonymous resource for persons seeking treatment for mental and substance use disorders

Game-Based Treatment for Adults With ADHD

EndeavorOTC is a game-based treatment for Adults with ADHD clinically proven to improve attention and focus.

Google Scholar

Scholarly Google search engine for finding academic research articles.

Harvard University Information and Videos on Tech Design “tricks” and Thinking Traps That Hook People. Designed to Help People Develop Critical Thinking About What They Are Doing Online.

Healing From Trauma

This episode of the Huberman lab explains “why we are particularly vulnerable to PTSD and how stress and trauma affect the developing brain” as well as therapeutic intervention for PTSD. It also discuss how PTSD is related to attention-deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and vice versa

Hotlines for Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention With Immediate Help by Text or Phone

Call 988 or TEXT 800-273-TALK (8255) for immediate help 24/7 if you are in crisis. The Lifeline offers trained counselors to help you. Whether you’re facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, or just need someone to talk to, caring counselors are there for you. You are not alone.

Huberman Lab

Interesting podcast using neuroscience with practical tools to help people improve their emotion regulation, health and performance.

Interactive Guides for Parents to Practice Line by Line What to Say in Conversations About Sending Nudes, and What to Do If They Sent One, Had Theirs “reshared,” Received One, or Are Being Threatened.

Discussion guides for parents with line by line interactive infographics about how to start a conversation and what to say to help kids with different aspects of digital safety, including sending nudes, and what to do if they sent one, had theirs “reshared,” received one, or are being threatened.

International Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress

Comprehensive resources for the public as well as professionals to learn about and treat the consequences of exposure to trauma.

Internet Safety Resource to Educate Parents on How to Protect Children From Online Predators and Other Threats Including Those Related to Online Gaming, Social Networking and Mobile Devices.

Internet safety: resource to educate and empower parents, educators and other adults to protect children from Internet dangers including pornography, predators, cyberbullies and threats related to online gaming, social networking and mobile devices.

Internship and Volunteer Opportunities Sorted by Grades 9–12 and Interests

CollegeVine is a resource with internship and volunteer opportunities sorted by grades 9-12, interests, and location. Virtual opportunities included. College calculator to determine one’s chance of acceptance at various schools.

Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Boston

Big Brother/Big Sister volunteer opportunities for adults to mentor kids in need.

Learning Works for Kids

Educational video games and interactive Resources for Kids that are fun but also teach kids and build skills

Love Is Respect

Help website with user-friendly tools to spot and prevent different forms of abuse teens may experience when dating.

MaleSurvivor Provides Resources to Male Survivors of Sexual Trauma.

MaleSurvivor provides critical resources to male survivors of sexual trauma.

Media Matters for America

Non-profit research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.

Mental Health Resource Center (JED Foundation)

Information and user-friendly tools for teens to help themselves and/of their friends with common challenges and dilemmas.

Michael Thompson, Ph.d.

Clinical psychologist, author, and speaker specializing in children, parenting, and education, offering workshops and consultations globally.

MIT Educational Resources for Adults & Kids

Explore the world of computer science with engaging videos, self-paced tutorials, programming activities, and more for all ages and experience levels. Points students toward real-world opportunities like mentorships, internships, and scholarships that can help them take the next step in their CS journey.

National Alliance on Mental Illness – Fact Sheets on Mental Health by State

National Child Traumatic Stress Network

Website dedicated to providing information and educational resources about childhood trauma

New England Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous

This website lists the local SLAA meeting schedule for online and in-person meetings filtered by location. SLAA is a 12 Step Program modeled after AA.

Non-Threatening Resource to Refer Loved Ones Who Are Caught in Conspiracy Theories

Interactive tools to assess your thinking, promote critical and thinking and better decision making. Offers free customized learning programs on the site to improve decision-making, boost critical thinking and make positive changes. This website can also be a user-friendly, non-threatening resource to refer loved ones who are caught in conspiracy theories, or anyone struggling to sort out what’s real or true.

Normative Sexual Behavior in Children

A large-scale, community-based survey was done to assess the frequency of a wide variety of sexual behaviors in normal preadolescent children and to measure the relationship of these behaviors to age, gender, and socioeconomic and family variables.

Online Safety Interactive Resources for Children

This website provides age-appropriate videos and activities to help teach children how to be safer online. The mission is to – with the goal help children become more aware of potential online risks and empower them to make safer choices on- and offline. This website is part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Parent Guidance Talking to Kids About Sending Nudes, Sexting and Other Online Dangers.

Excellent parent guidance for how to talk to kids about sharing nudes and other online situations they encounter.

Parents’ Media & Technology Guide With Age Appropriate Ratings (Common Sense Media)

Peer to Peer Advice by Youth – Give or Receive It

Practical information, fun quizzes, and advice for youth to help their friends in day-to-day life as well as navigate their own tricky online situations. Excellent resource and online community to empower youth and inspire open and honest dialogue.

Play2Prevent

Video games for youth focused on prevention

Popular News Sources Rated for Political Bias

Be informed about your news sources.

Practical Conversation Starters With Kids. Tools for Parents to Improve Children’s Mental Health Through Meaningful Dialogue.

Pre-College Internship Programs in Psychology and Neuroscience at Top University Campuses

Summer Springboard offers pre-college programs at various elite colleges across the country.

PsychCentral

Large mental health resource, similar to Psychology Today

Psychology Tools: Screenings and Scales for Various Conditions

Psychology Tools* is a free resource for the general public providing access to psychological screening tools that are academically validated from scholarly journal articles for various conditions. The website provides automatic scoring. *Note: Diagnosing mental health conditions can only be done by a licensed professional.

PsychologyToday

Mental health library launched in 1967, Psychology Today has since grown into “the world’s largest mental health and behavioral science destination online to find articles on various psychological topics. Dr. Margolies is a contributing author.

PTSD Coach Online

Online coach from the National Center for PTSD for trauma survivors, their families, or anyone coping with stress and upsetting feelings.

Report Internet Crimes and Scams: Get Help Recovering Money Lost Through Scams From Your Local Secret Service Field Office.

This website lists the local phone numbers to report crimes, including cyber crime and getting help recovering money from scams.

Roadmap to Resilience: Resource for Kids and Families on How to Overcome Adversity

Podcast episodes, short videos, articles and practical resources for children and families with tools to overcome adversity, trauma, and difficult situations and foster resilience.

Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous

Resource for information about Sex and Love Addictions and the SLAA 12- Step Program modeled after AA.

Sexual Behaviors in Young Children: What’s Normal, What’s Not?

Informational article for parents with a chart that lists examples of sexual behaviors in children ages 2 through 6 sorted by what is: common, less common, uncommon, and rarely normal.

Sexually Explicit Photo Posted Online? Take It Down

This website is to get a sexually explicit photo online taken down anonymously. It works by assigning a digital fingerprint to the photo so it can be sought out by tech companies and removed.

Social Media Use in Adolescents: Mental Health Advisory

Scientific Findings and recommendations on the impact of social media on youth

Summer Springboard

Pre-college resource to find innovative summer programs for high schoolers leading colleges and universities to develop personal leadership skills and explore interests.

Supporting Emotional Wellbeing in Children and Youth (National Academies of Medicine)

User-friendly tools and videos for children, teens, and parents to to cope with various difficulties.

The BlackLine

According to the site’s webpage, “BlackLine® provides a space for peer support, counseling, witnessing and affirming the lived experiences of those who are most impacted by systematic oppression with an LGBTQ+ Black Femme Lens. Call BlackLine® prioritizes BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color).”

The Center for Countering Digital Hate

The Center for Countering Digital Hate exposes sources and producers of hate and disinformation online.

The Center for Humane Technology

Excellent, high level resource about technology with cutting edge ideas and solutions to key world issues created by tech.

The Center for Teen Empowerment

Non-profit operating in Boston, Somerville, & Rochester, NY employing youth as catalysts for positive transformation and youth-led social change. Teen Empowerment believes in the power of youth to effect meaningful change in their communities. Their mission to employ, train, and empower youth, in collaboration with adults, to create peace, equity, and justice. Teen Empowerment has succeeded in developing and maintaining an approach to engaging at-risk youth and reducing youth violence that can serve as a model for other communities.

The Dignity Project (for Outstanding High School Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors in the Boston Area)

Fellowship program designed to train outstanding students in the Boston area to be leaders in their community. The overarching goal of the initiative is to cultivate a network of thoughtful and skilled young leaders able to build bridges of understanding and cooperation, and stand up to bigotry and hate. This program is for all faiths and ethnicities.

The Good Project at Harvard

Videos, animated dilemmas, toolkits, and questionnaires, to assess your values and what’s important to you, solve dilemmas, make good decisions, be a good collaborator, have better arguments, and more. The Good Project is a research initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education with a mission to enhance high-level thinking and learning.

The Intimacy Barrier: Ten Tips for Caregivers to Help Fearful Traumatized Children Develop Trust and Saffety Trust

Tips by Bruce Perrt, M.D. for caregivers on how to manamanaging intimacy barriers in children with trauma history, offering practical strategies to foster trust and reduce fear-related behaviors.

The National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline

Live help for sexual assault victims and their friends and families. The hotline is free, confidential, and secure.

The Neuroscience of Fear

This episode of the Huberman Lab Podcast discusses fear and trauma: ” the neural circuits involved in the “threat reflex,” how specific experiences and memories activate that systemm how our body is involved in trauma and fear” and the necessary ingredients of effective interventions.

The Social Dilemma: 2020 Film a Must-See for Anyone Who Uses Technology

Explores the dangerous impact of social media, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.

The Trevor Project

Resources for suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth

This Teenage Life

Cool, creative and helpful podcasts, zine, and blog for teens and by teens. From the site, “It can be easy to think “”I’m the only one with this issue,”” but hearing other young people share their experiences can normalize conversations around sensitive subjects and make the world feel less lonely, less big, and a little more loving.” “

Tips Most People Don’t Know for How to Find Information on Google

Search engines often work well to help you find what you’re looking for these days, but sometimes they come up short. For those occasions there are a few little known tricks and tips which come in handy.

Trauma Research Foundation

Bessel Van Der Kolkk Video Library of Somatic treatments of Trauma

How to balance the Nervous System with Body-Based Knowledge and Resources.

Understanding & Treating Addiction

Dr. Anna Lemke from Stanford Uinversity discusses how dopamine drives motivation and addictive behaviors, how the release of dopamine in addiction impacts the brain balance of pleasure-pain, and how this cycle plays a key role in the development and persistence of addiction.

Understanding Healthy Sexual Development: What to Expect as Your Child Grows and Matures

Having an understanding of normal sexual development helps parents and caregivers understand and nurture children as they grow and move through different developmental stages. Children who are nurtured and understand healthy sexual development are less likely to become victims of sexual abuse.

User-Friendly Program That Does Not Require Abstinence. an Approach That Respects People’s Strengths and Preferences, Designed for Any Level of Motivation to Help People Consider Their Drug Use and Other Issues (adolescent and Adult Versions Available).

The Seven Challenges program (with adolescent and adult versions) is a low commitment program that can help people at any stage of motivation to address their drug use, co-occurring life skill deficits, and their situational and psychological problems. The Seven Challenges uses an approach called “Mastery CounselingTM,” which helps people look at what is happening in their lives, what is going well and what is problematic, without forcing the goal of abstinence onto them.

Volunteer Matching Job Board for Do-Gooders

VolunteerMatch is a non-profit job board that matches do-gooders seeking important, meaningful volunteer work with interesting opportunities in fields such as: Advocacy and Human RIghts, Animals, Arts and Culture, Community, Health and Medicine, Computers and Technology and more. VolunteerMatch is the largest network in the nonprofit world, with the most volunteers, nonprofits and opportunities to make a difference.

What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health

“The goal of this episode of The Huberman Lab podcast is to help people make informed decisions about their alcohol consumption that are in keeping with their mental and physical health goals…Since alcohol is one of the most widely consumed recreational substances, this episode ought to be of relevance to everyone. Even low-to-moderate alcohol consumption negatively impacts the brain and body in direct ways.”