Gabe Young, Ph.D., LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a specialization in work-life balance as well as child and adolescent mental health. He is currently a psychology professor and department administrator at Pacific Oaks College. Dr. Young brings his unique perspective on the K-12 education system and his experience as a child therapist to this Psychology Today article exploring how to support children as they are.
“The issue, as I’ve come to understand it, is relatively simple,” Dr. Young writes. “Therapy is about accepting kids where they are at, while K-12 education is about prescribing ‘outcomes’ of where kids ‘should’ be. At its heart, we send a message to kids either that they are either ok the way they are, or that they need to change in some way (even if many people consider that needed change to be ‘growth’).”
