Divorce: Dad or Mom left…now what?

divorce

Navigating divorce is difficult. There are many causes for divorce. A few of these are: Affairs Grown apart/fallen out of love Addiction Incompatible Divorce becomes even more complex when there are children involved. Many times, parents become bitter and angry towards each other and it is hard to treat each … Read More

Mourning the Loss of a Pet

pet

Pet loss is often one of the most difficult experiences people deal with. It often takes people by surprise just how difficult it can be to “bounce back” after a pet’s death, or how hard the loss hits them in their day to day life. Whether it is a childhood … Read More

New Ideas for Resolutions

resolutions

It can be easy to get stuck in the same routine where you make the same resolutions year after year.  I can’t count the number of times I have promised myself to drink less caffeine!  If you have tried the same few resolutions each year, why not try something different … Read More

Good Pictures Bad Pictures

pictures

Some researchers are citing the age of 8 – eight years old!! – as the average age of exposure to pornography. And – that’s an average. Meaning that kids also encounter pornography at ages even younger than 8. Prior to the Internet era children typically didn’t discover porn until age … Read More

Mental Health In Our Schools and How We Can Help Students

mentalhealth

About one in five children in the United States show signs of a mental health disorder – anything from ADHD to eating disorders and suicide. And yet, as NPR has been reporting in their series on the mental health crisis in U.S. schools, many schools aren’t prepared to work with … Read More

The Perfectionist Child

Perfectionist

A little perfectionist likes order, rules, and thrives on certainty. Perfectionism can start at an early age and when parents or caregivers give these children the support they need, they will thrive. However, it can be challenging to teach young children how to to deal with the inevitable reality that … Read More

Defense Mechanisms & Coping Skills – Denial – Part 2

denial

One of our most primitive defense mechanisms is denial. Mark Twain perfectly captured the essence of denial when he quipped, Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. In effect, denial is an effort to avoid the pain or discomfort of reality by pretending it doesn’t exist. It is the emotional … Read More

The Gift of Failure

Failure

Parenthood sparks a powerful, instinctive drive to protect. But, in reality, we do our kids a disservice when we do not allow them the space and opportunity to make decisions with the potential outcome of failure. Like Clark Kent, we are transformed from mild-mannered, everyday people into Authority Figures, Responsible Parties…Tooth … Read More

Cultivating Gratitude in Your Kids

gratitude

Many of us today have so much that it can be easy to take it for granted. Especially for children, whose developmental level lends itself to entitlement, it can be hard to maintain a sense of gratitude for the things they have rather than dissatisfaction over the things they don’t. … Read More