Renee Calhoun, LMFT Renee Calhoun, LMFT

We don’t need more stuff. We need less. A therapists perspective on ADHD, family overwhelm and regulation.

We were taught that when life feels out of control, the answer is better organization. More bins. More systems. More structure. But for ADHD brains and overwhelmed families, more organization often just becomes more pressure. More to manage. More to remember. More to feel behind on. Sometimes the answer is not another system. Sometimes the answer is simply less.

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Renee Calhoun, LMFT Renee Calhoun, LMFT

The Great Holiday Homecoming

When college kids come home for Thanksgiving or winter break everyone expects cozy family time but the reality can feel a little more chaotic. Your student has been living like an independent almost adult and you have been living in a peaceful routine. This blog walks you through how to talk about curfews chores and social plans before the tension hits so the holiday break feels calmer kinder and way less dramatic.

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Renee Calhoun, LMFT Renee Calhoun, LMFT

Helping Your Child Understand Celiac Disease: Our Family Story and a Gentle Storybook for Kids

Celiac disease can feel confusing and scary for children, especially when they are facing testing, new rules, or a recent diagnosis. In this post, I share our family’s journey, the lessons we’ve learned, and a gentle, child-friendly story inspired by my work with families at the CHOP Celiac Center. This simple storybook about Annie Grace is designed to help kids feel brave, supported, and less alone as they begin their gluten-free journey.

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Renee Calhoun, LMFT Renee Calhoun, LMFT

For the New Therapists Who Need to Hear This Today

There’s a point in every new therapist’s journey when you realize something no textbook ever prepared you for: there are no coping skills powerful enough to override unmet basic needs. You can offer grounding tools, insight, and emotional support, but you cannot out-therapize hunger or talk someone into feeling safe when they’re not. And that isn’t a failure of your training or your clinical skills. It’s a reminder that human beings need food, rest, stability, and safety before they can access growth. In community mental health especially, this truth becomes impossible to ignore and often sits at the root of burnout. We try to treatment-plan our way through food insecurity and systemic gaps, when what clients really need is support far beyond the therapy room. The work becomes more sustainable the moment you release the pressure to fix what is fundamentally not a clinical problem, and instead meet yourself and your clients with grace.

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Renee Calhoun, LMFT Renee Calhoun, LMFT

A Letter to the Mom Crying in Her Black SUV

To the mom crying in her black SUV between errands and pickup lines, you are not failing. You are carrying more than anyone can see and it makes sense that your tears finally found their way out. You are not invisible. You are worthy of support and softness and a life that gives you space to breathe again.

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