The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By: Brian Murray LMHC Jacob was 8 years old when he was awakened at 4:30AM by his grandfather. He was gently shaken by his grandfather announcing it was time to get up to go fishing. Jacob had never woken up so early in his life and struggled to clear his eyes and get oriented. He made his way into the kitchen where there was a hum of activity going on. A single light bulb turned on, hung from the ceiling. He could see his father standing there making sandwiches and getting a cooler of drinks together. Jacob’s father turned and said, “go get dressed so we can meet grandpa outside and help him with the boat.” The place was nothing fancy. The living conditions were about functionality, not fashion. They were at their uncle’s farmhouse out in the Georgia countryside. Grandpa had an old wooden V-hull boat that leaked until the water made the wood swell up and seal the leaks. An old coffee can rolling around in the bottom of the boat served as a bail until the leaking stoppe...

By Aaron Welch, LMHC, NCC, CSOTS It’s that time. Yes, THAT time. The moment you have dreaded for years. It is time to teach your teenager how to drive. It is the time for you to step into two tons of glass, steel and plastic and hand the keys to someone who, fairly recently, needed you to tie their shoelaces for them. It is the time for digging your fingers into the car door, pushing a brake pedal that is not there, and using a paper bag to cope with hyperventilating. Yet someone, somewhere made up a rule that said a person with out-of-control hormones, a still-developing brain, and very poor impulse control should have the privilege of driving. All kidding aside, teaching teenagers the art of driving can be very anxiety-provoking for many parents. Because of this, learning to drive can also be very anxiety-provoking for many teens as well. That’s not so good because the last person I want to be on the road with is one who lacks confidence and has the anxiety lev...