Articles by Khadijah Booth Watkins, Associate Director
Khadijah Booth Watkins, MD, MPH, is associate director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the Associate Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program of Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital. In addition, she provides clinical care to children, adolescents, and families in the Child Outpatient Clinic and continues to teach and supervise fellows, residents, and medical students. To learn more about Khadijah, or to contact her directly, please see Our Team.
Self-Esteem: How do we build our kids up? – Shrinking It Down
March 31, 2022
Self-Esteem: How do we build our kids up? – Shrinking It Down
Low self-esteem gets all of us down at one point or another. For kids, the goal is to help build them back up. Lots of things can lower our kids’ self-esteem like body image, cyberbullying, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and surprisingly, guilt (along with lots of other things!). This week, Gene and Khadijah break down […]
Ukraine: What Do We Tell Our Kids? – Shrinking It Down
March 17, 2022
Ukraine: What Do We Tell Our Kids? – Shrinking It Down
The crisis in Ukraine feels to many like the straw that broke the camel’s back. Between the COVID pandemic, systemic racism, the climate crisis, and now the war in Ukraine, the world may feel increasingly unsafe. Very young children, though, actually respond more to their adults’ distress than to the tragic events themselves. That said, […]
Body Image and Young People featuring Dr. Holly Peek, MD, MPH – Shrinking It Down
March 3, 2022
Body Image and Young People featuring Dr. Holly Peek, MD, MPH – Shrinking It Down
Turning on TV, opening a magazine, or going on our phones these days, kids are overwhelmed with images showing us what we should look like. Even on “reality” TV, none of the people look like your average person. With all of these images circulating in our everyday lives, it is easy for any of us […]
Alcohol and Adolescents, featuring John F. Kelly, PhD, ABPP – Shrinking It Down
February 17, 2022
Alcohol and Adolescents, featuring John F. Kelly, PhD, ABPP – Shrinking It Down
Did you know that 3 out of 4 addiction cases in the U.S. are alcohol addictions, and kids who start drinking before age 15 are significantly more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder than those who wait? Alcohol causes more deaths each year than all other drugs combined, including around 5,000 deaths to children […]
Is Your Child Struggling With School Refusal? – Shrinking It Down
January 20, 2022
Is Your Child Struggling With School Refusal? – Shrinking It Down
Does your child get stomachaches at the thought of going to school? Does your younger child throw temper tantrums? Does your teenager spend all day in the school counselor’s office, or even refuse to leave the house? When kids struggle to go to school, it can be a challenging situation. And nearly two years into […]
Strategies for Managing Holiday Stress – Shrinking It Down
December 16, 2021
Strategies for Managing Holiday Stress – Shrinking It Down
Families have felt tremendous stress over the past two years due to the pandemic. Still, for many, this is a special time of year that we fantasize about and look forward to, so it’s not healthy to go into the holiday season and the school winter break at this heightened state of stress and duress. […]
What To Do If Your Child Is In Crisis
December 7, 2021
What To Do If Your Child Is In Crisis
No family chooses to be in a crisis mental health situation with their child. In all the uncertainty and intense emotions, one thing is clear – we want to keep our children safe. To do so, we need to know the following: What it looks like when your child is in crisis (What to Look […]
Unsettled About Instagram? Ways to Support Your Teen’s Mental Health – Shrinking It Down
October 7, 2021
Unsettled About Instagram? Ways to Support Your Teen’s Mental Health – Shrinking It Down
It’s been an unsettling time for many, with the testimony by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and her disturbing claims that the company knows that Instagram causes mental harm to teen girls. In this episode of Shrinking It Down, Dr. Gene Beresin and Dr. Khadijah Booth Watkins put on their shrink caps to process the concerns […]
Mental Health Myths BUSTED – Shrinking It Down
September 30, 2021
Mental Health Myths BUSTED – Shrinking It Down
Mental Health Myths BUSTED – Tune in wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for “Shrinking It Down.” Welcome back to Shrinking It Down – because mental health is anything but simple! What better way to launch Season 5 than by busting some mental health myths? In this episode, co-hosts Dr. Gene Beresin and Dr. […]
Mental Health Myths: BUSTED
September 10, 2021
Mental Health Myths: BUSTED
Mental health myths can increase stigma and prevent parents and caring adults from taking important actions to support children and teens, even when the best intentions are there. Below, child and adolescent psychiatrists Gene Beresin, MD, MA and Khadijah Booth Watkins, MD, MPH share the truth about about nine common mental health myths. You can […]
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