Parenting

Understanding ADHD in Teens
October 11, 2024

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. The essential feature of ADHD is a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity...

Co-Parenting After Divorce
October 11, 2024

The goal of healthy co-parenting after divorce is to minimize the conflict between the parents. Research shows that it’s the conflict between the parents, not the divorce itself, that has the greatest negative impact on the children. What are...

The Visual Aid: an Invaluable Tool to Help Children Manage Their Emotions
October 11, 2024

Recall the last time you witnessed a child having a temper tantrum. Did it help to tell them to just “calm down?” Probably not. In fact, it most likely made the tantrum worse. Now, what if you had tried...

Size of the Problem: Helping Children Match Their Feelings and Reactions to a Problem
October 1, 2024

Size of the Problem (SotP) is a tool used to help individuals think critically about how their feelings and responses to a perceived problem impact themselves and the people around them. Simply put, it helps people understand how big...

How to Talk to Your Child About School Shootings
September 26, 2024

It grieves me to be writing this blog regarding a topic that so deeply affects our students, parents, school staff, and community today. The anxiety and confusion surrounding school shootings is prevalent for us all. This is made more...

Helping Your Student with Back to School Feelings
August 13, 2024

With summer quickly coming to an end, children and teens in your home may be experiencing familiar and competing feelings like excitement, dread, anticipation, and anxiety. Often, these feelings may not be expressly spoken, but there are clues your...

What You Need to Know About ASD
July 9, 2024

What Exactly is ASD? According to the DSM-5-TR, the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is comprised of Asperger syndrome and the other autism-related diagnoses which make up the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder...

Benefits of Authoritative Parenting
July 9, 2024

You may have heard of the term parenting style. There are four main parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and distant. Authoritative parenting is known as a balanced approach and is widely regarded as the most effective parenting style, because...

How to Support Emotional Regulation in Your Teens
July 9, 2024

What is emotional regulation you might ask? Emotional regulation is the “ability to exert control over one’s own emotional state.” It is quite common for teens to struggle with emotional dysregulation due to the flood of hormones rushing through...

Parent Child Interaction Therapy and Childhood Cancer
June 12, 2024

Facing cancer is an immense challenge for anyone, but for children, it means grappling with their mortality at an age meant for dreams of being a princess or a superhero. For their parents it is a terrifying ordeal to...

Creating a Values-Based Summer Plan
March 26, 2024

One of the tenets of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is identifying your values, or the things that are most important to you, and taking action steps toward living out those values in your everyday life. With the semester...

How ADHD Can Impact Emotions
February 26, 2024

We are accustomed to looking for the common symptoms of ADHD. In the health care field and the school systems, we commonly look for symptoms that include, fidgeting or restlessness, difficulty managing time, impulsive behavior, difficulty focusing, getting easily...

The Power of Play Time
January 3, 2024

Many children are involved in increasingly rigorous academic programs. Parents who want their children to have a better life often focus intensely on academics and neglect play. Neglecting to prioritize play can have the opposite effect that parents want...

“Will My Child Grow Out of It?” The Crucial Role of Early Intervention for Young Children with Behavior Issues
January 3, 2024

As parents, we often find ourselves wondering whether our child’s challenging behavior is just a passing phase or something more significant. The common belief is that children will grow out of biting, defiance, tantrums, destructive, aggressive, hyperactive, or anxious...

My Child is Struggling with Their Body Image – How Can I Help Them?
January 3, 2024

Anyone can struggle with body image; Research shows that children as young as 3 years old can have body image concerns. As a therapist who works with children and teens, this question comes up a lot from parents. And...

Helping Your Child Deal with Anger
January 3, 2024

Anger and temper tantrums/meltdowns in young children, especially under the ages of 7-9, are to be expected and even healthy for a child. It is important for children to be able to experience all emotions. Having these hard emotions...

Monkey Bars and the Normal Grief of Living Well
December 1, 2023

In playgrounds, there used to be a structure called the Monkey Bars. I believe they’re too dangerous to be included in most public spaces anymore, but they were the test of endurance and strength (and bravery) for an entire...

My Child Won’t Remember That…. Will They?
October 30, 2023

As many children do not hold memories before 2-3 years old and even then, memory is often pretty vague, parents tend to be more lenient about what they say in front of their child before that time period or...

How to Support Your Child’s Behavior Over Holiday Breaks
October 19, 2023

As the holidays are fast approaching, one thing parents often state their frustration about is behavior regression or increased outbursts during breaks from school. Children thrive when they understand expectations and know boundaries and limitations. The holiday season can...

Strategies to Get Children to Listen and Take Responsibility
October 10, 2023

It can be a battle getting kids to do things they are supposed to do. It gets even more frustrating when kids know the expectations but choose not to do them. Having to remind kids repeatedly to complete tasks...