While it may be difficult for an adult to understand the fears of young children, those anxieties can seem very real and scary particularly to a child between the ages of three and six. As a parent, the best approach you can take in helping to soothe your child’s fears is to first model calmness and reassurance.
Family Time: Quality vs. Quantity
For many families, schedules start to get busier this time of year. Not only is school starting back up, but so are all of the extracurricular activities that come along with it. Between football practice, piano lessons, AP exams and parents’ increased work schedules, the coming of the school year often means less quality time spent together for many families.
Cultivating Connection in Your Family
Take time to explore which family bonding activity works best for your family and notice how making space for family time can impact your feelings of connectedness.
Blending Two Families Together
It’s good to ask, “What can I expect when my partner and I marry and we blend our two families together?” When blending two families together expect there will be an adjustment period for everyone in the family. Here is a quick glance at how to plan for blending two families together.
Seven Tips for Co-Parenting
A child can easily get trapped in the war and conflict of two parents getting a divorce. Some thoughts of children caught between parental conflicts could be “I need to fix the problem,” or “I’m the reason they are fighting.” Neither of which are true from an adult perspective but children experience divorce much different than adults. The best gift you can give your child when divorcing their parent is to do so respectfully and peacefully in the child’s presence.
Early Family Interactions and Your Listening Skills
We often intrinsically know whether we feel listened to and understood, ignored, dismissed, or misunderstood by another person. But how often do we intentionally think about our capacity to listen in relationships – whether that’s work, family, romantic, social, or spiritual – and how often do we reflect on the connection between our early family experiences and how they taught us to listen (or not)? Here are a few questions to help you explore how you have learned to listen (and what you expect from other listeners).
One Hour to Becoming a Better Spouse and Parent
We all know the importance of good habits. As we head back in to the school year, it’s not uncommon for parents to begin helping their children by establishing schedules that include things like regular homework time or a routine bedtime. However, the start of the school year can be a great time for parents to re-examine their own schedules and routines as well. One area that can be particularly helpful for many couples is to establish some routines or habits around spending time together.
Preparing for a New School Year as a Family
It’s important to prepare for a new school year as a family. Family meetings, schedules, goals- these will help you start the school year right.
Identifying Coping Activities
In our busy culture, it is often hard to identify what we enjoy doing for fun, or self-care. I ask clients regularly what they enjoy doing for fun or self-care. You would think that I asked them how to save the planet! I get blank stares, shrugged shoulders, and “I … Read More
Building a Better Brain
Therapy is a critical element in experiencing change. But we also believe that what our clients do with their time outside of therapy will either assist with or distract from their goals. In fact, studies are showing us that certain things we do and specific changes we make can literally change the “wiring” and composition of the brain.
