Prescription med overdoses now surpass cocaine, heroin, and meth combined. For nearly 25 years I have worked with teenagers in therapy groups and asked them to identify any mood altering substances that they or their friends have tried. Year after year, the top two answers were always the same: marijuana and alcohol. Recently, I asked […]
A Parent Bully Learn to Bully at Home We’ve all witnessed children or teenagers disrespecting their parents: They yell at them, curse at them, and even hit them. You may shake your head, cancel playdates, or forbid your children from hanging out with such a terror, but the problem is bigger than you think: Kids […]
Is your kid’s happiness short lived or long lasting? Admit it, you love to see your kid happy; your home is filled with smiling photos grinning from your computer screen, bookshelves, even your refrigerator door. Everyone wants to raise a happy child. But when it comes to raising children, are all forms of happiness equal? […]
Bestselling author Paul Smith teaches parents how to encourage hesitant children Bestselling author Paul Smith knows a lot of ways of encouraging hesitant kids, 101 ways to be precise. In his book PARENTING WITH A STORY, Paul documents 101 inspiring lessons to help kids build the kind of character that they and their parents can […]
College support groups prevent freshmen year “crash & burn.” For many years I’ve sat with stunned parents who asked, “What went wrong with my kid in college?” Their son or daughter left home upbeat and full of hope, only to return from freshman year overwhelmed, anxious or depressed. Yet they had excelled in high school. […]
Rules for a healthy argument: how to fight for — not against — your teenager. Dear Teenage Son/Daughter, It’s difficult for us to communicate these days. We stumble into an argument, get angry or frustrated. We say things we regret. We bruise each other with our words. Being a parent of a teenager is the […]
After listening to many bullied parents’ stories in my psychotherapy office, I began to recognize many shared experiences. Although bullied parents come from various cultures and communities, I’ve identified the three most common scenarios that enable kids to bully their parents. The parents most likely to be bullied by their kids are: Parents who were […]
How to tell the difference between normal adolescence and more serious conditions. Some kids pass through adolescence swiftly, with little turmoil. For others, puberty detonates like a time bomb; once it goes off, nothing is the same. As a psychotherapist, I’ve sat with many brokenhearted parents as they agonize over their teen’s behavior, mystified by […]
The ultimate resource guide for city parents. New York City can a teenager’s dream — and a parent’s nightmare. A massive playground with endless possibilities, and unforeseen hazards. At my New York City Parenting Workshops, parents of teenagers inevitably appear the most stressed out. Who can blame them? Compare NYC to other US cities and […]
1. Not Setting Limits Can you believe that there was a time when people didn’t spend hours of their day staring into glowing screens? Phones never left the house, television put itself to sleep at night, and computers were just fancy typewriters. Technology didn’t come with you to the playground, school or on a family […]
