Understanding Your Teen: Privilege Problems

Q: Can teens of caring parents with most needs & wants met and plenty of opportunities at their disposal experience unhappiness, disconnection, and mental illness?

A: In short, absolutely YES. And actually, according to recent studies, they appear to have a higher risk of experiencing these symptoms.

Understanding Your Teen: Depression

Is my teen just a “normal, moody” kid experiencing the roller coaster of their changing bodies and a desire to fit in and belong? Or is it depression?

This is just one of the many ways find it difficult to understand their teens these days. It’s important to pay careful attention to your teen’s behavior. Even if they won’t talk to you, their actions might just tell you what’s going on.

College & Eating Disorders: Know the Warning Signs

Going to college is an exciting time in an adolescent’s life! Everything is new: new freedoms, new experiences, new friends, and new life paths. It is also a major life transition that is stressful and demanding. This transition often triggers an eating disorder in those who are genetically pre-disposed or otherwise vulnerable. Early detection and intervention are critical as eating disorders can be so devastating.

The Dating Coach Answers: How Do I Find An Emotionally Available Date?

It seems a lot of people have difficulty finding someone who is “emotionally available” for a relationship. Many stay in a relationship way too long, only to finally realize their romantic partner is unwilling or unable to follow through with a commitment. In order to find an emotionally available person, you first have to weed out the ones who are obviously not available to you.

Body Neutral: Helping Your Daughter Avoid Body Image Issues and Disordered Eating

The way you talk to your daughter about her body and the changes she is undergoing can greatly improve her chances of developing a healthy self esteem and body image. This goes a long way in preventing disordered eating which affects overall health. In particular, the mother in a girl’s life is especially influential in how her daughter will view herself and her body. A mother’s own personal relationship with her body, food, and herself is likely to be passed down to her daughter.

The Dating Coach Answers: Why do I keep attracting the wrong types of people?

Are you in a cycle of attracting all the wrong types of people in your dating life? I seem to hear this from a lot of clients. They are meeting people and dating, but the relationships end up being unhealthy or mismatched. It can be so puzzling and frustrating. Breaking up is difficult and who wants to do that over and over?

Body Image: The Struggle to Accept Myself as I Am Right Now

How often do you find yourself thinking some version of, “If I just lost a little weight, exercised more, ate a better diet, made a little more money, improved my health, had more inspiring work, lived in a nicer place, improved my relationships (or something else), then I’d be happy”?

The Dating Coach Answers: How Can I Find My “Soul Mate”?

I’ve always been a romantic at heart. I love flowers, chick flicks, poetry, love songs, fairy tales, and the list goes on. I also used to love the idea of a soul mate—my one and only “prince” who would come into my life at the perfect time and sweep me off my feet, saving me from whatever drudgery I was experiencing at the time. We would live happily ever after, of course. Thankfully, my views about soul mates changed over time with doses of reality and life experiences….

The Dating Coach Answers: How Can I Date Successfully?

I had dated “unsuccessfully” for many years as I navigated single life. I had many relationships that broke up, and this frustrated me. Marriage was my ultimate goal when I was single, and it took me a long time to attain this. So, what would I have to offer to those who are in the midst of this life stage now? I wallowed in that thought for a while and felt somewhat defeated.