Maintaining a healthy body through smart diet and activity choices. This may include eating a balanced nutritional diet, exercising regularly, at least 60 minutes per day for youth or 2.5 hours per week for adults, and being generally free from common illness.

Spiritual wellness is where we establish peace and harmony in our lives by demonstrating an individual purpose and reflecting your values and beliefs in your actions. This may include having a sense of meaning and purpose in life, trusting yourself and others and being able to forgive and let go, having principles, ethics, and morals that provide guides for your life.

Physical restlessness, fidgeting, arguments with parents over rules, neatness, time management.

Children need help to deal with their emotions. This means teaching them how to respond when feelings arise.

Adults sometimes think that children do not experience feelings of grief, but even babies feel loss and show signs of grief. Children experience many losses—such as losing a favorite toy, being separated from a parent, losing a family member to death, moving to a new home or school.

Although children learn about AIDS in school and from their friends, parents have a very important job in helping their children really understand AIDS and how not to get it.

When you bring up the subject of teenagers in a room full of parents, there’s usually a group groan. People roll their eyes and laugh nervously. Almost everyone thinks about this stage with fear and trepidation.

Children who are given the basics — love, healthy food, enough sleep, clothing, a safe and healthy home — have a natural head start at school.

Professionally, you should have fulfillment in your job. There is also a balance between work and leisure. This may include beliefs and values surrounding money/education are harmonious with behavior, having a balance between work/school and other areas of life, having financial/educational plans for the future.

What are the characteristics of youth who are most and least at-risk of becoming involved with drugs and other risky activities? What can parents do to help their kids stay on a good path?

If we want our children to be non-violent, we can not use violence to discipline them. Discipline means “to teach.” When we discipline our children we are turning their misbehavior into an opportunity to teach them how we want them to behave.

When expectations are realistic, it is easy for a child to experience success and feel personally valuable. On the other hand, when expectations are too high or too rigid, parents often express disappointment in their child’s actions. 

Social wellness is how we relate and connect to others by engaging in the community and building and being a part of supportive social networks. This may include: being aware of others feelings and responding in an appropriate manner, having people with whom you have a trusting relationship, and being able to set and respect your own and others’ boundaries.

Youth who stay away from risky behaviors tend to have parents who set clear limits for behavior. These parents usually have rules about homework, television use, curfew, drugs and alcohol.

At one time or another most parents ask themselves: "What can I do to help my child feel better about himself...to feel more confident...to view life positively?"

Is stress getting to you? Here are some clues research gives us about stress and the characteristics of good stress managers.

A family crisis occurs when a family has to change. It is a turning point: things will either get better, or they will get worse. Sometimes, day-to-day hassles can pile up and cause a stress overload.

There are five major social and emotional issues that teens deal with during their adolescent years. These include: Establishing an identity. This has been called one of the most important tasks of adolescents.

It’s not easy being a parent! As children grow into their teens, every family goes through stress and conflict. It’s a normal part of growing up. Understanding the changes your child is going through makes it easier to be a positive parent.

Deciding to divorce or separate is a difficult decision for parents. Although you may hear that people divorce  too easily, most parents do not come to the decision to separate or divorce easily. When people choose to marry they are committing to a life together and most never think they will separate or divorce.