All Age Groups

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How to be Certain They Love You

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How to be Certain They Love You

I have been thinking about the time I spend with couples as their therapist.  It is compelling to sit in a couple’s therapy session and witness how love can make a lot of us feel completely out of control.  I see couples fight furiously and notice how each partner is completely oblivious to the fact that it’s not the money or the child that’s the issue.  What they are really fighting about involves three very simple questions, Do you love me?  Will you stay with me?  How can I be sure that you won’t hurt me? When I witness this in a session I have the wonderful and sometimes energizing opportunity of letting them know that they are fighting for love.

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The Elf on the Shelf as a Parenting Tool: Yes or No?

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The Elf on the Shelf as a Parenting Tool: Yes or No?

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?

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Methods and Techniques for Disciplining Young Children

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Methods and Techniques for Disciplining Young Children

What is the best method for disciplining our kids?

  • Always focus first on their goal/objective and their emotional state before establishing a boundary. It is best to lower yourself to the child’s level and in the most tranquil form possible describe what the child is feeling, what you expect of them and express that you are certain that next time, they will do it properly.

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Ways to Raise Happy Children

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Ways to Raise Happy Children

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.

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How Your Parenting Style Resembles our Political System

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How Your Parenting Style Resembles our Political System

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.

Finding Clarity on Purpose Compliments of Tony Robbins

Finding Clarity on Purpose Compliments of Tony Robbins

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.  

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This is Why You Can't Avoid the Sex Talk (VIDEO)

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This is Why You Can't Avoid the Sex Talk (VIDEO)

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.

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Sometimes I Want to Give up on Parenting

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Sometimes I Want to Give up on Parenting

The wind is blowing my hat towards my cheek, and I can hear my children laughing with their daddy.  It is an absolutely breathtaking day on Miami Beach, and I feel like crying. My mind is flooded with negative thoughts:  I'm a bad mom because I won't play with them in the water and my children's memories of fun times will always include mom on the sideline watching them looking serious.  It is always painful to sit in a happy place full of remorse and regret.  I know this is universal for most of us as parents.