It happens every year. Just when you are settled in to the lazy days of summer, you are startled to find Back to School catalogs in your mailbox and bikinis going on sale in favor of turtlenecks. Your local store has devoted an entire aisle to pencils, notebooks, and lunch bags. Soon there will be […]
1. Encourage Questions.
Don’t answer every question, instead ask what do they think. Asking questions stimulates conversation between you and your child.
2. Don’t Criticize.
Criticism invites low self-esteem. Children feel that they have failed or disappointed their parents when they are criticized. Find alternate ways of correcting the problem. A child will likely shut down communication if […]
Q. I need your help with a question about my teen-age daughter. Getting her ears pierced was no big deal, but then she wanted to get a belly button ring and a tongue ring. We let her get the belly button one but not the tongue one.
Just the other night, we walked into her room […]
What should the goals for counseling be when the patient has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
Every therapist will have their own opinions, but I’ll give you some of my thoughts.
First, it is important to teach the child or teen with ADHD how to recognize problems and how to solve problems. There are many good problem solving […]
Throw a flimsy piece of paper. Nothing happens, right? It probably didn’t get much farther than your feet. Roll it up into a ball and do the same thing. It goes a few feet farther, but so what? Now, make a few strategic folds with it and let it fly. Bank to the left, dive, […]
Ah, potty training! Go to a local bookseller and you will find dozens of books on the subject. Search the Net and there are thousands of websites with information on how to do it stress free. There are even people who are capitalizing on a parent’s frustration with potty training by offering to do it […]
For troubled teens who are struggling with drug abuse, depression or other serious issues, residential treatment centers that offer therapy-based solutions might be the best option. Residential treatment centers usually have a complete psychiatric staff available to monitor each troubled teen closely and provide therapy in addition to a curriculum of academics, exercise and personal […]
It has been a long day. Home from work, you put together a nice, healthy dinner for the entire family to enjoy. Gathering the family around the table, you sit down to eat and within a minute, a voice pipes up, “I don’t like anything.” Encouraging, you say, “I’ve made some of your favorite foods […]
In an actual war, to be attacked means to have our survival threatened. Thus, we might chose between surrender, withdrawal, or counterattack. When we feel attacked (criticized or judged) by others in conversation, we often move into that same kind of survival mentality and automatically defend ourselves. But conversation is different than war. When we […]
By not planning for the future we guarantee that we will leave our children with a tremendous burden. Just about the time they are preparing for their own retirement and their children’s college education, adult children often are overwhelmed with decision-making for their aging parents.
As a long term care administrator I heard it daily, "I […]