Introduction
BODA's Monthly Check-In is a reminder that therapy can be active, outdoors, and fun while still being deeply effective.

A Note From Our Founder: The Question I Ask at the Start of June

There's a question I've started asking every family I work with sometime around now:

"What does a bad week actually look like for your kid?"

Not a crisis. Not a catastrophe. Just a bad week.

It's a more useful question than it sounds. Because most parents can describe the last crisis in vivid detail. They can tell me about the phone call, the night in the ER, the thing their kid said that scared them. What they often can't describe, at least not quickly, is the quieter version. The two weeks that came before. The gradual slide that nobody quite named until it was a bigger problem.

That slide has a pattern. I've seen it enough times that I can almost predict it now. It starts with sleep. Then eating gets irregular. Exercise disappears. And at some point in there, usually when all three are already off, something else shows up. Substances, isolation, the behaviors that get flagged as "the problem" when really they're just the visible end of something that started weeks earlier and further upstream.

June is when I pay the most attention to that upstream territory. The summer seasonal shift makes the early signals easier to miss. A kid sleeping until noon in July doesn't look alarming the way it would in October. Skipping dinner when everyone's eating at different times doesn't register. The drift is happening in plain sight, and it's easy to rationalize until it isn't.

So I ask the question. What does a bad week look like? And then I listen for whether the family has a shared answer, or whether each person in the room is describing something different. That gap, between what parents are seeing and what the kid is actually experiencing, is usually where the most important work is.

The skills section below gets into the specific things our clinicians track in summer. It's worth reading even if things feel okay right now. Especially if things feel okay right now.

— Andrew Tepper
Founder, BODA Therapy

BODA Retreats

Upcoming Retreat Dates 2026:

• June 25–28
  
• July 9–15
  
• July 20–22
  
• July 28–31
  
• August 8–15
  
• August 20–25
  
• September 9–14
  
• September 23–25
  
• October 5–9
  
• Date TBD — Burnout Recovery Retreat
  

Join Andrew Tepper, LCSW, and Lauren Seltzer, LMFT, for a two-night retreat designed for working professionals seeking burnout recovery, clarity, and reset.

📍 Tannersville, New York. Spots are limited. Email [info@bodatherapy.com](mailto:info@bodatherapy.com) to learn more.

At BODA, we go beyond the traditional weekly therapy session by creating immersive, nature-based experiences designed to support lasting change. BODA retreats are designed to complement ongoing therapy, not replace it.

Tool of the Trade: SEEDS

SEEDS is a simple daily check-in used in therapy to track the five things your nervous system actually runs on:

• Sleep
  
• Exercise
  
• Eating
  
• Doing Something Meaningful
  
• Social Connection
  

When even one slips, everything feels harder. When all five slip at once, which summer has a habit of doing, your emotional reserves hit empty fast.

Sleep

Two weeks of drifting sleep schedules can look a lot like depression.

Exercise

Team sports, gym class, and the movement of a school day all vanish at once, and the mood impact shows up fast.

Eating

Without scheduled meals, eating becomes reactive, and for young people with any history of disordered eating, summer is genuinely high-risk.

Doing Something Meaningful

School gives every day a built-in reason to show up. Summer removes it, and for young people already prone to low mood, the absence of purpose compounds quickly.

Social Connection

The social architecture of school is invisible until it's gone, and for kids stepping down from a program, the isolation can be sharp and fast.

The value of SEEDS isn't perfecting all five. It's noticing when something is off before it compounds into something harder to turn around.

AT's Finds

• 🤖 Why China Fears the AI Girlfriend — China has classified AI companion addiction as a top ethical risk above AI getting out of control. It's worth considering what young people may actually be using technology to avoid.
  
• 🎯 What "Triggered" Actually Means — A useful correction on a word that has become so diluted by slang that many families struggle to distinguish trauma responses from ordinary discomfort.
  
• 🫁 Your Brain Knows When It's Time to Take a Breath — New research suggests sensory perception improves during exhalation, helping explain why a walk can sometimes accomplish what a conversation cannot.
  

Featured Client Success Story: BODA at a Turning Point

"I don't think I'd be the person I am today without BODA. It really changed my life."

We work with many young people who arrive after trying other approaches. Sometimes they had a therapist who cared but wasn't the right fit. Sometimes a program helped temporarily but stopped working. Sometimes parents were doing everything right and still felt stuck.

What often works at BODA is that the setting changes the dynamic. Something about being outside, moving, and not sitting across from someone at a desk makes it easier to say what's actually true.

Skills get practiced where life really happens. Families become involved. The treatment team stays connected.

The clients who make lasting change are not always the ones who arrive most prepared. Often, they're the people who finally found an approach that fit.

If you think BODA might fit someone you know, we're happy to talk through it before anyone commits to anything.

Read her full story here →

In the News

• 🌿 BODA Therapy in CNBC — Andrew Tepper discussed the difference between using media as a healthy reset and using it to avoid life.
  
• 🌿 BODA Therapy featured on Parents.com — Andrew weighed in on the viral "Flip the Phone Challenge."
  
• 🌿 BODA Therapy featured in CNBC — Andrew shared concerns about AI companions replacing human connection for teenagers.
  
• 🌿 BODA Therapy featured in The New York Times — Highlighting BODA's use of outdoor activities to create more natural therapeutic conversations.
  
• 🌿 BODA Therapy featured on NBC News Now — Showcasing outdoor therapy through hiking, skiing, and campfire sessions.
  

What We Do

BODA Therapy offers a new approach for preteens, adolescents, young adults, and families.

Rooted in accessibility, engagement, and accountability, we facilitate experiential therapy and coaching through familiar, enjoyable activities that extend beyond traditional office sessions.

We provide structured accountability programs to prevent backsliding and reinforce progress. We also design customized three-to-five-night retreats in the Catskills, blending immersive outdoor experiences with therapy that is dynamic, meaningful, and often enjoyable.