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Tween & Teens | Work Burnout
I once had a child tell me that taking someone else’s perspective is impossible. Children, especially those diagnosed with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders, tend to take things literally and struggle with perspective-taking. This is because of a child’s cognitive development. Jean Piaget, a renowned psychologist and child development theorist, developed the stage theory of cognitive development that is still used to understand children today. This theory includes 4 stages
Read MoreListening to the behavior and responding to the emotion the child is trying to communicate is the path to fostering emotion regulation.
Read MoreMany of us have heard of the book, The Five Love Languages. Couples are the first to buy the book, hoping it will shed light on how to better show love to their partner. Yet, many stop there, and few think about what their child’s love language is. Understanding how your child gives and receives love is important to their emotional development. So, how do we show our children the love they need? First, identify their love language.
Read MorePressure. I feel it, you feel, and our children feel it. We feel the pressure to succeed, the pressure to be the best parent, and the pressure to raise successful children. Our society has created this undue pressure to “be the best.” It is normal to see high schools placing pressure on good grades and getting accepted into desirable colleges.
Read MoreEmpathy. The word of the year. We hear about it from researchers, teachers, therapists, and our fellow parents. As humans, we could all use a little more empathy. We often confuse empathy with sympathy. To sympathize is to feel bad for how another is feeling; to empathize is to genuinely sit with another in their feeling. Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another. Today I want to talk about the importance of empathy in parenting.
Read MoreWe all have those days where kids are running around, and it feels like everything we say goes in one ear and out the other. This usually leads to frustrated kids and even more frustrated parents. Children may insist they didn’t hear us, and parents insist, “I’ve told you ten times!” Communication with children can be hard. Here are a few tips to make it easier.
Read MoreWhether we are parenting, teaching, or nannying, frustrations get the best of us. We find ourselves frustrated with crying children who do not comply with what we say. Out of frustrations come demands such as:
Read MoreAnger. Every one feels it, right? Anger can come in small or little doses. We get angry that our plans aren’t turning out the way we had hoped for. Angry that our kids aren’t listening to what we ask them to do. Angry that the ketchup exploded in the refrigerator. But, is anger really what you’re feeling? According to Robert Pluchick, you’re not.
Read MoreDespite the joys of summer, many parents express feeling stress after a few weeks. I often hear statements of, “they complain of boredom,” “how much screen time is too much,” and “is it the fall yet?” If you fall in the latter category and aren’t dancing for joy with summer, that is okay! Here are some words of wisdom to get you through the summer months.
Read More“It’s hard because I know you need me less and less.” As the words left my mouth, I instinctively knew they were wrong, yet I had been holding onto them as the truth.
Read MoreAs I sat down to write the Therapy Thursday blog, a time we focus on all things clinical, I knew immediately what to write about. ASD- Autism Spectrum Disorders. I couldn’t help but smile because so many of my clients came to my mind, and I couldn’t help but think of their unique gifts and personalities.
Read MoreI specialize in working with couples, parents, and children, so Love Languages often come up in therapeutic conversations. Many of my couples come into session already knowing what their love language is and hoping to discuss it. We often make goals of intentionally trying to show love through their partner’s love language. It had me thinking, though, do children have a preference on how love is expressed? Alternatively, does their parent’s love language impact their preferences in the future. From my experience, both of these theories are likely true.
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