Vital Minds Therapy

Clark County is launching a free late-night recreation program for teens this summer at four community centers across the Las Vegas Valley.

Beginning June 9 through July 31, teens ages 13–18 can participate in free activities from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Cambridge, Torrey Pines, Walnut, and Whitney recreation centers. Programs include basketball, boxing, DJ classes, fitness training, mentorship opportunities, and workshops.

Clark County officials say the initiative was created in partnership with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police after reviewing crime data and identifying areas experiencing increases in youth violence. The goal is to provide safe, structured activities for teenagers during summer evenings while school is out.

Participation is free, though parents must complete a one-time registration before teens attend. Walk-ins are welcome.

Officials say the program will be evaluated throughout the summer and could expand to additional recreation centers in the future if successful.

📍 Participating locations:
• Cambridge Recreation Center
• Torrey Pines Resource Community Center
• Walnut Recreation Center
• Whitney Recreation Center

DBT Skills : Module : Emotion Regulation. Skill. Understanding Emotions.

Emotions are crucial in navigating everyday life. Many of life's problems can be resolved by better emotional awareness.

"I need a drink after that"
"The day I've had.."
"She made me so angry"
"He had such road rage .."
"It's like treading on eggshells coming home from
school/college/work''...

Emotional awareness is key to emotion regulation. Then not needing to change the way we feel with anger outbursts, unhealthy lifestyle choices :drink, drugs, feeding our feelings, overeating, spending, shopping, gambling, other forms of unhealthy ways of coping /self harm.

Most of us have a more than reasonable grasp on emotional literacy.
We know that we need the so called ' negative emotions' as much as the feel good 'positive emotions'.

If we've never experienced sadness then we wouldn't know joy.[ ie :the movie Inside Out and its sequel].

Yet still we go about our day, or many of us do - blaming external issues for rising levels of stress, overwhelm, reactivity.

DBT can really help us with this.

[Image credit : Brene Brown who adapted the seminal work of Wilcox, Plutchik & Zinker]

During a tantrum, many parents instinctively try to explain, reason, or lecture in hopes of calming their child. However, developmental research suggests that talking too much during these moments can actually prolong the meltdown, not because the parent is wrong, but because the child’s brain may temporarily struggle to process language effectively.

From a neuroscience perspective, intense emotional distress activates survival-oriented brain systems linked to fight, flight, or freeze responses. When this happens, areas responsible for logic, listening, and language processing become less active. In simple terms, the child’s brain is overwhelmed and cannot fully absorb explanations or long instructions.

This is why calm presence, simple phrases, and emotional regulation from the caregiver are often more effective than lengthy conversations during a tantrum. Short statements like “You’re safe” or “I’m here” are easier for an overwhelmed nervous system to process.

Once the child calms down and their nervous system settles, the brain becomes more capable of understanding discussion, boundaries, and problem-solving. Timing matters. Teaching and explanations are often most effective after emotional regulation returns.

Understanding tantrums as moments of nervous system overload rather than intentional defiance can help parents respond with more patience, clarity, and emotional support.

Emotional maturity doesn't always announce itself loudly. Sometimes it shows up most clearly in the things someone doesn't do. They don't weaponize silence when they're upset. They don't dig up old mistakes to win a current argument. They don't make you guess what's wrong when they could just tell you.

These things might sound like a low bar, but if you've been in relationships where they weren't present, you know how much they actually matter. The absence of punishment, manipulation, and mind games creates a kind of safety that's hard to describe until you've experienced it.

Emotional maturity is really just someone who has done enough work on themselves that they don't need to make your relationship the place where their unprocessed emotions get worked out.
They don't expect you to read their mind. They just tell you. What a relief that is.

There’s evidence of a possible neurobiological link between playfulness and cognitive health in older adults, hinting that staying playful may help keep the brain flexible over time.