What makes ACT different from traditional CBT? Tory explains how ACT shifts the focus from challenging thoughts to noticing them, asking whether they’re useful, and orienting behavior around values instead of symptom control.

Why take thoughts less seriously? Tory walks through ACT’s playful defusion strategies, from repeating words until they lose meaning to thanking the mind for its chatter — all ways of loosening thought’s grip.

What does it mean to live by values? Tory explains how ACT turns values into active commitments — not abstract categories, but concrete ways of showing up. Values become the life map that guides therapy.

Why does fighting anxiety make it worse? Tory shows how ACT normalizes fear, distinguishing between everyday worry and panic. By accepting discomfort, we stop feeding the spiral of “anxiety about anxiety.”

Why keep coming back to the present moment? Tory describes how ACT borrows from mindfulness, using anchors and awareness to notice thoughts without trying to eliminate them — choosing instead to return, over and over, to what matters.

Maggie Schwalbach explains executive functioning as the brain’s management system. Coaching identifies weak spots—like time management or organization—and helps turn daily chaos into clear, workable routines.

Maggie discusses how EF coaching focuses on functional challenges—like focus, organization, and emotional regulation—regardless of diagnosis. ADHD may inform the work, but it doesn’t define it.

Using the metaphor of “Amy the Amygdala,” Maggie shows how anxiety disrupts executive functioning. Coaching helps students train their brains to keep working even when stress is present.

Maggie challenges the idea that EF coaching is just about attention. She often starts with time, organization, or inhibition—skills that support focus by addressing what’s underneath it.

Maggie reframes “try harder” narratives by teaching structure. Through tools like checklists and walkthroughs, coaching turns invisible expectations into clear, manageable systems.

Maggie explains how coaching helps high-performing teens manage time across work, rest, and play. The goal is sustainable self-regulation—not just short-term rewards.

CATCH offers a range of free, accessible resources via their website (catchiscommunity.org), including parent groups, videos, and upcoming events. Dr. Lisa Novak highlights opportunities to volunteer and join the broader mission, emphasizing that community participation is central to how CATCH operates and grows.

Dr. Lisa Novak explains that resilience, in the CATCH framework, means equipping families to withstand life’s challenges—not just pushing kids to perform. The organization focuses on parents and caregivers through peer support groups, educational programming, and tools like Coping Kits—delivered at key school transition years—to shift focus from achievement to emotional readiness.

Dr. Lisa Novak introduces CATCH (Community Action Together for Children’s Health), a local nonprofit founded by Amy Oberholtzer to support parents raising emotionally resilient children. Born from a personal experience navigating mental health challenges in an achievement-focused culture, CATCH emerged to fill the gap in accessible resources for families in need.

Jason Price explains how couples therapy helps partners improve communication, repair old wounds, and build new patterns of connection. He outlines how the work changes depending on the couple’s stage—whether early in a relationship or decades in—and why even long-term partnerships can benefit from a reset.

Lisa Novak offers an explanation of the experience of neuropsychological testing that parents can share with their children.

Lisa Novak explains why “I don’t know” is often an opening in psychological assessment.

Lisa Novak discusses how assessment helps patients and families become more aware of their internal experience—what’s happening and why. She explains how building that awareness can open up new options for coping and change.

Lisa Novak, PhD, of Illuminate Psychological Assessments, describes how neuropsych testing can help distinguish between anxiety and ADHD—two diagnoses that often present with overlapping symptoms.

Lisa Novak, PhD, co-founder of Illuminate Psychological Assessments, explains what neuropsych testing measures and why it can offer clarity for families.