As an experienced clinical child psychologist, I believe the ultimate goal of any parent is to rear an independent and responsible child. While at first glance this may appear obvious, if we observe most parents in action on a day-to-day basis, it becomes evident that many parents have no idea how to achieve this objective. Most parents never take [...]
Despite our dreams many of us fail to achieve our life ambitions. Many of my clients talk about starting a business, becoming financially independent, writing a novel, traveling, furthering their education, getting physically fit, or becoming a nurse, teacher, or lawyer. Most of the time their objectives go unfulfilled. Oliver Wendell Holmes said: “Most people go to their graves [...]
Schools today are required to provide more services than ever before. For example, many schools across the nation offer a free hot breakfast and lunch to students. Some schools serve as a community mental health center and some even supply medical services to the neighborhood. One service I believe schools can and should provide is parenting training. Most parents [...]
The parent-teacher conference can be an efficient tool to communicate with your child’s teacher. Below are a few tips on how to make that meeting more productive: 1) Show up: My wife, now retired from teaching fourth grade for 28 years, often said that the parents with whom she most needed to talk rarely scheduled a conference. Children perform [...]
I left the APA decades ago when I realized that as a clinician the APA was not my friend and certainly was not worth the expense to remain a member. I joined NAPPP as soon as I could. Nevertheless, the APA still plagues me. For more than a quarter century I have presented workshops across the country to mental [...]
Jason, 14 is like most male adolescents. He is into video games, hockey, and, of course, hanging with his friends. If you ask him the classic question adults love to ask teens, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Jason will reply, “I don’t know—maybe a lawyer or an engineer.” Like many of his peers, Jason [...]
The divorce rate nationally hovers at around fifty percent but it is several percentage points higher in Maricopa County, according to census figures. I believe divorce is a national tragedy, as it is terribly stressful and often expensive for the involved adults, quite sad for the parents of the couple, and absolutely traumatic for the children. A major reason [...]
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