parenting

One chilly afternoon this spring while playing a board game, my 4-year-old crossed his legs, then quickly uncrossed them and shot me a very serious look. “Crossing your legs is for girls,” he explained. I was horrified. Ever since he could sit upright, my son has crossed his legs—an endearing…

In a world where self-help books flood the market—more than 15,000 titles published annually—it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of advice claiming to be the “best” or “only” way to transform your life. With so many options available, separating truly meaningful guidance from superficial fluff can seem…

As parents, we want to help our children to the best of our abilities. If we could take away their worries altogether, we would in a heartbeat. But childhood anxiety is common, affecting 7% of children and adolescents at any given time, with up to one in three people experiencing…

It can be tough to know what’s going on in your child’s world. Little kids may not have the language to name their feelings, while older kids and teens may be resistant to opening up. As both a counselor and a mom, I recommend checking in with your children regularly….

If you believe your teenager could benefit from therapy, bringing up the conversation now can make a real difference. Today’s teens face more stress than previous generations. According to a recent poll from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), two out of three teens feel life is more overwhelming…

You might notice shifts in your child’s eating habits or a sudden fixation on specific body parts. Maybe they’re often scrolling fitness influencers’ profiles, lamenting “perfect” bodies, or pushing to try some new diet that’s alarmingly low in calories for their active growth stage. Sometimes it’s just a gut feeling:…

Young children show the effects of trauma in many ways. They may seem anxious, sad, afraid, act out, become aggressive, or even shut down emotionally. When difficult situations break or stress the all-important bond between children and parents, the symptoms of trauma can persist or worsen.  Children need to know…

Fathers are a big part of our lives, as they raise us and teach us about life — both directly and indirectly. There’s a lot to love about our fathers, but they are often also someone with great potential to do us emotional harm. As research shows, having a strong…

Trauma can have huge impacts on the life of the person who experienced it, but it can also have echoes in families for generations. Generational trauma occurs when someone experiences a traumatic event and the impact it has on that person is “passed down” or continues to be experienced by…

Few other psychological conditions affect an individual’s ability to function quite like abandonment issues. Often formed in response to a traumatic or neglectful childhood experience, abandonment issues can wreak havoc on the emotional and external lives of both children and adults who struggle to see their own value and to…

As toddlers and young children, we quickly and naturally form strong emotional bonds with our parents or caretakers. As a result, being apart from them at an early age is often accompanied by a level of anxiety. These feelings of distress are a normal stage of childhood development—but sometimes, our…

ADHD in teens can create unique struggles and issues at school as well as at home. On top of all the exciting and sometimes scary changes teens experience, ADHD can sometimes make middle school and high school life more complicated.  For teens who have already been diagnosed, their ADHD symptoms…