In my consulting work with parents of young children, I encourage parents to notice what the child notices and then to make a comment. To some degree this is natural. When, for example, there is a loud airplane overhead and the child looks up, it is common for the parent to say, “Oh, there goes an airplane.” Read More
Most of us don’t associate communication with Father’s Day. But fathers do communicate whether or not they use many words. Do you really talk to your father? Does your father really talk to you? Mine mostly talked at me and wanted me to talk more to him, which meant tell him what he wanted to hear. Read More
Frequently, I’ve heard from parents of a child I’m counseling, the child’s rendition of our session.
Parent: How was your session today?
Child: We played checkers. I beat him.
Parent: Did you do anything else?
Child: No.
Parent: Did you tell him about what happened at school yesterday?
Child: No.
I usually anticipate this type of interaction and explain to parents how careful they must be asking their children questions about counseling sessions, inadvertently inserting expectations, and not necessarily taking what’s said (by the child) as the whole story. Read More
Often, we use words like depression, bi-polar, panic attack, generalized anxiety disorder, and more to describe normal reactions kids have to life circumstances. This can be dangerous and gives kids the wrong message about life and our ordinary human experience in response to adversity. Read More