Can you sit in the dark with me?
October 9, 2015It’s Mental Health Awareness week and I find my mind skimming back over some of my former clients from as far back as 1988. I’ve been privileged to learn from every client I’ve worked with and I’ve appreciated every client willing to roll up their sleeves with me and dig into the task at hand […]
5 Ways Social Media Enhances and Inhibits our Lives
September 16, 2015Recently I felt compelled to take a break from social media, specifically FaceBook, where I have both personal and professional pages. I had begun to compulsively check my phone for the latest posts from old friends and animal rescue sites and I wondered what unseen consequences I might be facing from falling into this […]
5 Silver Linings to the Empty Nest
August 13, 2015Although there are three weeks until Labor Day, many schools are gearing up to start their new year before then. One by one, my own kids and the kids in my practice are peeling off to go to their respective colleges. Suddenly, it’s very quiet around here. This isn’t my first dance with the empty […]
The Bully, the Victim, and the Bystander: Thoughts From the Threshold of a High School Reunion
July 8, 2015This week I’ll be heading to my home town for a visit. Although it’s not the only reason to subject myself to a week in the tropical heat and humidity of a midwestern summer, I plan to attend my high school reunion while I’m there. The last reunion I attended was over a decade ago […]
How Important is a Dad?
June 21, 2015Today is Father’s Day and I find myself feeling so grateful that my dad still walks this Earth with me and so grateful that he was a loving, responsible, caring dad. As I scan through my personal Facebook page, I’m struck by how many of my friends and family miss their fathers today and how […]
7 Topics to Help Your College-Bound Teen Be Emotionally Prepared to Launch
June 2, 2015Many years (ok, decades) ago, I was preparing for this transition myself. I kept my misgivings about it hidden away because everyone else around me seemed so excited about it and the adults around me kept telling me how great a time I was going to have in college. Finally, at a party welcoming home […]
I’m a senior in high school! Why are my parents driving me crazy??
May 23, 2015This week I’ve been really aware of the end of high school dynamics parents of seniors go through and thought I’d tell you about four issues I see every single year in my private and professional life. Let me remind you, I was recently the parent of a high school senior myself. I’m pretty […]
What’s the difference between being deserving and being entitled?
May 5, 2015Whenever someone tells me to treat myself because I deserve it, I always have to pause and consider whether that’s true. Do I deserve it? Why do I deserve it? How do they know if I deserve it? What have I done to merit this reward? Honestly, if I really want something, I will do […]
Can you sharpen your boundaries but soften your edges?
April 18, 2015At the end of 2013 I received a call from a frustrated mom of a pre-teen young lady who was digging in her heels around following through with her household chores and homework and was starting to give her mom some attitude in what should have been benign conversations. Mom had had about enough of […]
Compassion with a case of head lice
April 10, 2015When my daughter was in kindergarten, she was constantly requesting play dates at our house with her new-found friends. For weeks she had pestered me to invite one particular girl over who usually went to after care on the school campus. Finally, I got the long-awaited play date arranged, brought the girls home, fed them […]
