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Every December at my center parents ask me how to not spoil their children and how to manage the gift giving frenzy of the holidays. The follow are the answers to the most popular parent questions during the holiday:
Many parents have questions about how their kids can learn to socialize. The following questions come up frequently at our center:
A parent member of our online parenting support asked:
We are doing the Elf on the Shelf this year for my daughter (4-years-old). I think that the elf watching for good behavior is a good incentive. Any thought or experiences?
What is the best method for disciplining our kids?
Time and again when I ask parents what they wish for their children they respond with “I just want them to be happy”. But how exactly does one do that? The truth is that happiness is a way of being but not a constant. To be happy you must also experience sadness and sometimes as parents we have a hard time tolerating that fact. In any case let’s take some time and see what the research tell us about how to be happy.
I was embarrassed that I had welled up to the point where my nose and my eyes could no longer function properly. I attempted not to take a huge breath or blink since tears were going to pour. From the stage I listened to Heather C. McGhee tell all of us that we needed to listen and understand one another, to meet in our humanity if there was to be true change. I began to cry because I know that this is the answer. As a psychotherapist to families and children, I sit and listen to others' humanity daily, and it always works when we listen, understand, and meet in that place of "yes, me too." However, in this moment at the We Won’t Wait Summit my tears were a mixture of McGhee stating what I believe to my soul and knowing how difficult it is for people to sit, speak, and listen to one another's experiences and feelings.
A 5th grader asks if it's normal to feel something bad every day. In this video Lina answers their question and gives recommendations.
The music was blaring and people were dancing on their chairs as I walked into the convention center. I had been given a gift by an amazing friend to attend Tony Robbins’ UPW: Unleash the Power Within event. I could never predict what was going to transpire at that event. I had only seen him speak on a TED talk and knew that many Fortune 500 companies send their employees to him for motivation, so I figured he was outstanding at what he did. Recently, this event is available for all to experience in his new Netflix documentary I Am Not Your Guru. It truly captures the weekend and its effect on so many. Like those followed in the documentary, my experience was pretty magical and truthfully, transformational. It was interesting for me, a psychotherapist, to be in the audience since I was experiencing the event as a participant, but also as a professional; my takeaway was empowering.
You are avoiding the sex talk but avoiding it won't help your children. Watch our founder speak with board certified sex expert, Gabriela Galvan de Antillon of Blue Pearl Therapeutic to know why it's important.
Skipping school, lying, hiding things from parents, taking an Uber at 2am, or in this case shoplifting are some examples of risky behavior that some teens may take. Watch this to learn why and how to handle it.
