From the book The Women at Brewster Place, author Gloria Naylor writes “yea’ know you can’t keep him running away from things that hurt him. Sometimes, you just gotta stay there and teach him how to go through the bad and good of whatever comes.” This coming from a wise older woman giving advice to …
The Hand We Are Dealt
I once heard Amy Morin, LCSW, being interviewed on a podcast. She posed the following question: How do I live my life based on the hand I was dealt? Something to think about! Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com With social comparison, social media and advertising efforts, many people are led to believe they are …
I decided
Ever so often I hear my clients or friends say this phrase, “I don’t have a choice." I’m always stumped by the statement because it seems as though people don’t realize that they always have a choice. When you are faced with adversity, you might not always recognize all the options in front of you …
That’s life!
I hear this phrase often from parents of teens in my office and even outside of work with friends with teen-aged children. It’s what is said when the teen is complaining about how hard it is to manage their responsibilities. It's sometimes hard to hear because I personally feel as though the teen's emotions are …
Keeping My Balance
My blog began as a way for me to connect to parents. As I've been working with youth and their families for decades, I wanted to write about some of the experiences and give some insight into how children see the world and how we as adults could better connect with them. I rarely write …
Tell me what you want me to do
Unspoken expectations “Adults have these expectations for kids, and they think we know what they are,” Said a teen in my office who gave me permission to use his words. He was frustrated as are many other kids at the fact that parents and other authority figures have thoughts about what they want, how and …
Jada’s Story
I have the opportunity to work with some pretty strong children who have been challenged with some tough situations early on in their lives. This is a story about a resilient girl who started life a little rough. She found out that I write about families and children on my blog and wanted me to …
No One Ever Told Me
The art of achieving balance Photo by nicollazzi xiong on Pexels.com In 2011 when I was building up my private practice, I noticed that the families I worked with, friends that were parents themselves and the parenting dilemmas I faced daily, were all challenges that I hadn't really noticed or paid attention to as I …