Posts Tagged: “child”

Teaching Children and Adolescents Responsibility

December 10, 2018

Parents often ask me, “How do you teach your kids how to be responsible?” Responsibility is defined as the state of fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one’s power, control, or management. So how do we teach our kids to be responsible? The Perfect Life As parents we want our children to succeed and do well socially and academically. We want our children to never have to struggle too much, be uncomfortable, or be disappointed. We

Emotional Flat Tire

July 19, 2016

Imagine you are running late to work and you are frantically rushing out the door. As you’re hustling down the freeway trying not to speed (at least trying not to noticeably speed), you suddenly feel the car start to vibrate followed by a low juddering sound. You recognize that dreadful sound and realize that you have a flat tire at the most inconvenient time. You now have a decision to make, you can either pull to the side of the

Conflict, Then Resolution

October 13, 2014

Recently, there seems to be a pattern among the families that I have been working with as a therapist. The pattern starts by the child acting rude and disrespectful. The parent then gets offended and upset and eventually sends the child to their room. Afterwards, nothing is really talked about or resolved between the parent and the child related to the situation that occurred. After a while of following this pattern, kids stop liking being around their parents and the

What is family counseling?

June 12, 2012

Family Counseling in Mesa Arizona Family counseling is where the focus of counseling is not on just one individual but rather the focus is on the way individuals relate within the family. A family systems approach to counseling is similar to understanding how a car engine works. Each part of the engine affects, and is affected by, other parts of the engine. If one part breaks, it doesn’t take long for other parts to be affected. Similarly, when one individual

Forced Apologies: Does forcing your kid to apologize work well in the long run?

January 11, 2012

Holidays are a great time for families and extended families to get together and strengthen their relationships with each other. During the festivities parents may talk and laugh together while kids play and run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Occasionally, in the midst of a conversation, a parent or two will hear screaming accompanied by one or more children crying. As loving parents often do, a parent may rush into the scene to find out what happened

Can consistency in parenting be bad?

January 10, 2012

I once worked with a mother and her three-year-old son (who was more like the size of a six-year-old). She told me that she was trying really hard to be consistent with the way she disciplined him but the consistancy wasn’t having a positive effect on her child’s behavior. I asked her to share with me the disciplining techniques that she was using. She responded that she consistently put him in the corner when he would misbehave and she consistently

Winning the Toothbrush Battle

January 10, 2012

Have you ever had to hold down your child, pry open his mouth, and insert a tooth brush just to make sure your child’s teeth get clean? I have. And I have also seen how ineffective it is, especially when the child just bits down on the brush and stops any cleaning action. Would you like a few ideas that may ease the battle over teeth brushing? Here are three Love and Logic ideas worth giving a try. 1 –