When you think about commitment, how does that make you feel? Does your heart race? Do you feel faint? Do you feel the need to literally run? These are real feelings of men and women who have a fear of commitment. These fears are usually rooted in fear of missing out on other opportunities or fear of making bad decisions.
When Our Kids Become Adults
There can always be clearer communication and deeper understanding between parents and children. Parents appreciating their adult children for the wisdom they have can assist the relationship in those areas.
Emotion-Coaching Parents
Emotion-coaching parents are those who see their child’s emotional reaction as an opportunity to engage with them, honor the emotion, and coach them through the accurate and appropriate expression of the emotion – especially the negative ones.
Common Challenges of Stepfamilies
In her book, “Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t,” Patricia Papernow, EdD, discusses the five common challenges that a stepfamily can face and offers some straightforward guidance to help address them.
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.
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.
Coping Skills vs Defense Mechanisms
Defense mechanisms are unconscious responses to overwhelming stress in our lives. Although they serve an important purpose, if left unchecked, protective instincts from defense mechanisms can inhibit the development of healthier coping skills. We are going to dive into two common defense mechanisms: denial and regression. Denial One of our … Read More
Defense Mechanisms and Coping Skills
Coping skills can take many forms. They help us make sense of our experiences, mitigate stress, and sustain our sense of self-worth. Sometimes life can feel pretty overwhelming. Without these strategies for managing life’s stressors and sustaining a sense of emotional well-being, it would be difficult to navigate even the … Read More
Laughter as a Coping Strategy
In these seasons and more broadly in general, incorporating humor as a coping strategy can bring some positive color back into daily life.
Overcoming Unkindness
Innocent teasing can be fun but it can quickly cross a line and result in hurt. Compassion is a critical component in overcoming unkindness.
