A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

Through most people would characterize the experience of raising children as a positive one overall, having kids –especially in high numbers– has been reported as detracting from life satisfaction levels in some studies. Challenging this notion, a recent study from the University of Glasgow has shown that satisfaction actually goes up in married couples, and increases with the addition of more children. The study suggests that those who “gear up” for child rearing and have the social, psychological, and real-world resources typically offered by marriage are more likely to find parenthood rewarding than those who are single or separated.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Bellevue Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

There are numerous stereotypes associated with teenagers. The idea that all or most teenagers engage in forbidden or risky behavior, including underage drinking and smoking, is prevalent throughout society, but this very prevalence may be adding to occurrences of mental health issues and related distress among teens. A study conducted at Wake Forest University has recently found that those teenagers whose mothers expected them to take part in high-risk activities were in fact more likely to do so. The study also found that teens who expected poor performance from themselves acted consistently with the expectation a year later. The research highlights the idea of the self-fulfilling prophesy and may encourage more positive expectations among parents.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist North Vancouver Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

Though depression can affect anyone at various points of life, it can be especially unwelcome for parents, who may feel guilty about experiencing the mental health issue around their children. Special efforts have been made to study the occurences of depression in parents, and to seek new ways to aid in accelerated and meaningful treatments. As part of this effort, a study was recently published in the journal Family Relations highlighting new evidence that a lack of social support, such as community events and meetings, church activities, and sports can increase the risk of depression among parents. While staying active and social is frequently advised for those with feelings of depression, the suggestion may be especially important for at-risk parents.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Simi Valley Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

The University of Cincinnati’s psychiatry team has recently announced that parents should be on the lookout for the establishment of mood difficulties and feelings of depression and anxiety in their young children as the new school year emerges from its short “honeymoon” phase. The professionals have noted that while the establishment of a routine can lead families to feel secure about school, many children develop mental health concerns after the novelty of the new year wears off, and have suggested that mental health treatments be considered for children who exhibit signs of suffering during this time. Mental health professionals in Cincinnati and across the country may experience an increased young client base as a result.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Tampa Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

By Sherry Gaba, LCSW and Life Coach

Click here to contact Sherry and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

Viewers cannot turn on the television today without a story depicting pop icon Michael Jackson and his un-timely death. It has brought to the forefront of everyone’s mind a reminder of the dangers of abusing prescription drugs. What parents may not realize is although overall teen drug use is down nationwide; prescription drug abuse is on the rise, as one of the fastest growing addictions amongst teenagers today. Since 1992, the number of teenager’s ages 12 to 17 years old abusing controlled prescription drugs has tripled and nearly one in five teens reported that they are able to get prescription drugs such as Vicodin or OxyContin in one hour. In fact, nearly all poison deaths in the country are attributed to prescription drugs. In the last ten years, the number of teens going into treatment for addiction to prescription pain relievers has increased by more than 300 percent. In fact, most of the clients I see today are struggling with prescription drug abuse, specifically pain medications. Although it is understood heroin is dangerous and that overdoses are common, what parents don’t understand is that narcotic painkillers mimic the same effects of heroin on their bodies and can be just as lethal. Teens turning away from street drugs and moving towards prescription drugs is rampant and the myth that these drugs are safe because they are legal must be squashed or this trend will continue to grow. Read the rest of this entry

By Pátzia Gonzalez-Baz D-CEP; EFT-Adv
Clinical member, OSP  

Click here to contact Patzia and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

Unfortunately, second marriages have an even worse track record than first marriages. Part of this has to do with the kids, yours, his/ hers. Don’t get me wrong, it has nothing to do with the kids as people, the kids are all right. It has a lot to do with our feelings about them. And I mean kids all ages, including adults. So here are some basic tips to help your children, you and your new spouse adjust:

1) Remind your kids that they were conceived in love.

It’s important to remind your children that you love them and that you once loved your ex very much. And that every time you see the child, you are reminded of how much you loved him/ her. And then things changed. Whatever happens between both parents has nothing to do with them. The divorce wasn’t their fault, you will always love them. Saying “You’re just like your mother (or father)” should be the highest praise! If you need to vent about your ex, do so in therapy.

2) Prepare your kids

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A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

The idea that aggression, both physical and emotional, arises in children from their observations of the methods used by their parents is fairly common, the need for greater research into the paths by which youths develop their behaviors is clear. In an effort to better understand a range of facets about the use of aggression and other controlling techniques among children and their parents, a study was performed in Belgium with telling results about the ways in which children are influenced. The study followed six hundred children ranging in age from eight to ten years old, along with their families, providing surveys about the ways in which behavior was controlled within the home.

In addition to these surveys, the participating children were scored as to their levels of physical and emotional aggressiveness not only by parents, but by their schoolteachers and peers as well. After collecting a great wealth of data, the researchers discovered that those children who lived in physically aggressive environments were considerably more likely to exhibit the same behaviors of physical aggressiveness at home and in school. Interestingly, however, children who were frequently exposed to relational aggression, described as the intentional manipulation of a relationship in order to serve some end, were found to practice similar behaviors at home but not among their peers or in school. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Philadelphia Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

While here have been scores of studies on the causes and effects of post-partum depression, a researcher from the University of Queensland recently set out to uncover the effects of mothers’ mental health during the long process of child rearing. Focusing her research on a study performed at the Mater University of Pregnancy, the researcher found that those mothers who exhibited signs of mental health concerns were significantly more likely to raise children with behavioral and other issues, while those with recurring issues such as feelings of depression or anxiety showed a dramatic increase in these rates. The effective treatment of mothers experiencing mental health issues may in fact prove valuable for more than just the client herself.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Fullerton Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

The ability to not let the thoughts and opinions of others interfere with one’s own emotional and mental well-being is an important skill, but the acquiring and refining of this ability isn’t always very easy. Usually associated with a greater degree of vulnerability to peer pressure and other social phenomena, teenagers can sometimes take the opinions of others very seriously. A new study performed at the National Institute of Mental Health has suggested that older teenage girls comprise the group most susceptible to peer judgment, following the use of MRI scanning and data collected from social judgment tasks. The study supports a heightened availability of psychotherapy and mental health services and support for young women, to help foster a healthy and happy personal and social life.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Evanston Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Update

The prevalence of post-partum depression, or PPD, may seem out of place in a society that seems to unabashedly celebrate the processes of giving birth and becoming a mother. Yet many women experience PPD, which is widely recognized as having an adverse effect on infants as well as the relationship between a mother and her child. With this potential for long-term consequences in family relations in mind, a team of researchers with the Boston University School of Social Work set out to examine the efficacy and methodological details of modern therapies in the field. The study found that overwhelmingly, the integration of the infants themselves in therapy sessions was hailed as resulting in higher success rates and more deeply reaching change.

The researchers based their work on interviews with a panel of mental health professionals, comprised of an educator, psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers, all of whom had twenty or more years’ worth of experience working with PPD patients. The interviewees described the ability of integrative therapies to help anchor the client in the present and create avenues of communication and understanding between a mother and her baby. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Tucson Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

By Tom Badzey, M.A., MFTI

Click here to contact Tom and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

As a therapist who offers counseling for teens and their families, I’ve become aware of some of the biggest issues facing young people today. While depression and anxiety remain two of the major reasons why parents seek my help, often these are not the first issues that drive them to consult a therapist about their child. Usually, it’s one of the “Big 3” teen issues of our day – Sex, Drugs and Body Image issues (which includes eating disorders and steroid use).

Understanding the Adolescent Brain
Adolescence seems to be a time when these 3 issues surface more commonly than at other ages. That is not by accident. From what we now know about the developing brain - and what we are continuing to discover – dramatic changes occur during adolescence. These changes include forming a sense of identity, acquiring the ability to think critically, testing judgments about risk and reward, conceptualizing the world in abstract ways and forming lasting social relationships, among others.

These are all critical skills that will prepare young people to become independent and autonomous adult individuals. However, these changes – and the rapid, sometimes “herky, jerky” pace at which they happen – also leave many teens vulnerable to the lure of unhealthy sexual activity, dangerous abuse of alcohol and other drugs, frightening problems with food and eating, as well as the use of steroids and other “body enhancers.”

Often, teens are expected (by both adults and their peers) to be able to handle life’s unpredictable events as an adult would, even though they have yet to fully master the skills necessary to do so. Therefore, when stressful, traumatic or depressing events occur – sometimes exacerbated by high performance expectations in school or athletics, physical or sexual abuse, loss of a loved one, problems with romantic relationships, etc. – teens often find the attraction of sex, drugs, steroids and other behaviors too good to ignore. Read the rest of this entry

By Jason Wasser, LMFT

Click here to contact Jason and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

One morning I was visiting a school to do a clinical observation for a student when my mouth dropped. What I saw before me seemed like nothing out of the ordinary for the students and teacher but there it was at 8:30 a.m. as clear as can be. A child was sitting at his desk, eating a pastrami sandwhich, chips and drinking a can of soda. When I asked the teacher what the school snack policy was, I was told there was none.

So the question I asked myself is who is really to blame for this problem? Is it our school system for having unclear snack policies or is it the parent’s fault for not feeding the child a substantial breakfast and sending the child to school without a more balanced meal?

When determining a clinical diagnosis in regards to a child’s behavior, one of the very first questions I would ask is “ what do they eat?” The amount of times the response from the teacher or parents was “ what does that have to do with how he/she is misbehaving” shows how much we all need to learn about how our diet truly can have an effect on our behaviors. Did you know that good nutrition and other important health habits are best established in childhood? If not, here are some facts to look over carefully. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Judith Barr, MA, LMHC

Click here to contact Judith and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

Today I saw the movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was a deeply moving film. I recommend it highly. And I also wish for you that you allow it to open your heart to yourself and others in a new way.

Benjamin (as you can read anywhere on the internet - so I’m not giving anything away) is born old and gets younger and younger through his life and the movie. You journey with him as he goes through the pains and joys, sorrows and comforts of life.

Again, without giving the movie away, I want to offer what moved me most . . .
That we witness, in reverse, Benjamin’s experience in life as an old man, its effect on him as he goes through his life, and his experience in life as a baby.

One of my early teachers about therapy taught this in my very first class with him - If you haven’t worked through your dependency issues in your childhood, early adulthood, or midlife . . . when you reach your elder years, you will be faced with them all over again, without the benefit of having resolved them.

Think about this. Feel it. We face and meet many of the same experiences in our elder years as we do when we are infants, babies, and children. We are often, no matter how fiercely independent we have come to be, dependent in some way on others who take care of us to some degree. Even before our elder years.

If we had parents who didn’t need for someone to be dependent on them to satisfy their wounded selves - their need to be loved, their need to have power, their need to be needed . . .
If we had parents who were fine to have someone be dependent on them and felt honored to have the task to cherish and to nourish that dependent child into his or her own unique self, becoming all he or she could possibly be . . .Then we have probably lived the passage through the dependency issues already - perhaps with a loose thread here or there that needs to be tended to.

But truthfully, how many people grew up with parents that evolved? That conscious? That un-wounded? That healed? Read the rest of this entry

By Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D.

Click here to contact Arthur and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

Many adopted and foster children have had very difficult and painful histories with their first parents. These children have experienced chronic early maltreatment within a caregiving relationship. Such a history can lead to the development of Complex Trauma (Cook et. al., 2003; Cook et. al., 2005), disorders of attachment, and Reactive Attachment Disorder. Children with histories of maltreatment, such as physical and psychological neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, are at risk of developing severe psychiatric problems (Gauthier, Stollak, Messe, & Arnoff, 1996; Malinosky-Rummell & Hansen, 1993). These children are likely to develop Reactive Attachment Disorder (Greenberg, 1999; Lyons-Ruth & Jacobvitz, 1999). Approximately 2% of the population is adopted, and between 50% and 80% of such children have attachment disorder symptoms (Carlson, Cicchetti, Barnett, & Braunwald, 1995; Cicchetti, Cummings, Greenberg, & Marvin, 1990). Many of these children are violent (Robins, 1978) and aggressive (Prino & Peyrot, 1994) and as adults are at risk of developing a variety of psychological problems (Schreiber & Lyddon, 1998) and personality disorders, including antisocial personality disorder (Finzi, Cohen, Sapir, & Weizman, 2000), narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and psychopathic personality disorder (Dozier, Stovall, & Albus, 1999). Therapeutic Parenting is often necessary to help these children heal (Becker-Weidman, A., & Shell, D., 2005/2008). This approach to parenting is often not familiar to most parents and requires a significant amount of work and preparation. Attachment facilitating parenting is grounded in attachment theory and is based on a set of principles that include: Read the rest of this entry

By Sherry Gaba, LCSW

Click here to contact Sherry and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

You may be a single parent by choice, divorced, widowed, never married or thinking about what parenting would be like without a partner. Many of the single parents who enter my office are often overwhelmed, stressed out, guilt-ridden, and full of angst. Mindfulness single parenting allows you to parent in the moment in a non-judgmental way on purpose with grace, wisdom, and compassion for yourself and your children. Guilt melts away into un-conditional acceptance that your are doing the best you can. Becoming reactive when your child misbehaves is replaced with seeing clearly what is really going on underneath the surface of your child’s acting out. You become more attuned with what your child is truly feeling. By parenting consciously and looking at your child’s point of view, you let go of your own agenda. You begin to see that sometimes your children’s behavior could be a manifestation of feeling different. Instead of labeling yourself as “less than” because you are a single parent, you surrender to the loss without trying to fix or enable your child’s discomfort so that you can run away from the pain. You face the truth with your child head on with self love and empathy. You cultivate an acceptance of what you and your child are experiencing right now in the present moment. Read the rest of this entry

By Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D.

Click here to contact Arthur and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

Attachment is fundamental to healthy development, normal personality, and the capacity to form healthy and authentic emotional relationships. How can you determine whether your child has attachment issues that require attention? What is normal behavior, and what are the signs of attachment issues? If you’ve adopted an infant, when will you see attachment problems develop? These and other related questions are often at the forefront of adoptive parents’ minds. In this article I will help you understand what to look for and how to identify concerns. Read the rest of this entry

By Jim Hutt, Ph.D., MFT

Click here to contact Jim and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

Yelling at Children

This is a topic that has meaning for everyone. All of us have raised our voices, probably more than once. No, I did not come from a home of screaming parents or siblings. However, I do see many families and couples who yell a lot at each other, and the short and long-term consequences of regular yelling/screaming are not pretty. Those of you who experience yelling know what I’m talking about.

Let’s start with the impact of yelling at children:

First, it teaches them how to yell, when to yell, and that yelling is an effective response to emotionally charged situations. By extension, it teaches them an ineffective way to process anger, as anger is usually associated with yelling.

Second, yelling scares most children—the younger the child, often the more fear they feel. In a state of fear it is next to impossible for a child to think about their mistake or misbehavior. If a child cannot think about their mistake, a child cannot learn from their mistake. Read the rest of this entry

By Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D.

Click here to contact Arthur and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

Attachment is the base upon which emotional health, social relationships, and one’s worldview are built. The ability to trust, and form reciprocal relationships, will affect the emotional health, security, and safety of the child, as well as the child’s development and future inter-personal relationships. The child with disordered attachment may be impulsive, doing whatever the child feels like, with no regard for others. This child may be unable to feel remorse for wrongdoings, mainly because the child is unable to internalize right and wrong. The child may tell you that something is wrong, but that will not stop the child from doing it. Read the rest of this entry

By Chesley C. Swanson, LMSW

Click here to contact Chesley and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

What Are The Negative Effects of Divorce on Children?

Most children are confused, afraid, hurt, sad, angry, and anxious when they sense or are told about their parents’ divorce. Interestingly, these are the same emotions that their parents often experience during the divorce process. It is no secret that there are many possible negative effects children experience both during and after a divorce. These negative effects are exacerbated when parents are fighting over “custody” and minimized when parents make parental decisions together, out of sincere concern for their children’s needs. The list of potential negative effects is long and includes: Read the rest of this entry

By Chesley C. Swanson, LMSW
Click here to contact Chesley C. Swanson, LMSW and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

If you or anyone you know wants to end a marriage with minimal emotional damage to the family, I suggest serious consideration of collaborative divorce. A simple explanation of collaborative divorce is: “A highly structured process in which to express and resolve conflict without going to court”. Two of the web sites that have a more thorough explanation of collaborative divorce and a list of local attorneys, mental health professionals and financial professionals are www.collablawtexas.org and www.Divorcenet.com . My intention is to give information about what Texas collaborative professionals call “The Texas Model” of collaborative divorce. Texas collaborative professionals are dedicated and available to assist divorcing couples to successfully restructure their lives, so as to minimize the potential negative effects of divorce. Read the rest of this entry