A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

An often overlooked age group, the 85 and up set face many challenges that are typically reserved for old age. Memory issues, difficulty finding energy, and the rapid or prolonged loss of friends and loved ones can all contribute to symptoms of depression, which is experienced at a high rate among those in this age group. Efforts to develop targeted therapy programs and other forms of treatment for such clients are on-going, with a recent development having been made through research at the University of Michigan and Kyungpook National University. The research found that involving the very old in family affairs and keeping them informed of events can greatly help to ward off symptoms of depression. A simple strategy, including the elderly in decisions and discussions may go a long way towards relieving some of the psychological burden often carried during old age.

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By Jason Wasser, LMFT

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In the midst of a world economic crisis, millions of families will be challenged in ways that can cause significant negative effects to their lives. As a Marriage and Family Therapist here in South Florida, economic stress is one of the main reasons why a couple or family will initiate therapy with me. In fact, Viktor Gecas, professor of sociology and head of the Department of Sociology at Purdue University notes that “research shows that this kind of stress can lead to changes in family members and in family dynamics, such as husbands becoming irritable and wives becoming depressed, as well as more extreme problems such as mental health issues, alcoholism, drug abuse and family violence.”

How we learn to cope with this present situation is based on the resources that we have access to. Families that were already struggling before the present crisis may be hit the hardest. The friends and family members that they usually can count of in times of need may also be affected by their own economic woes. Read the rest of this entry

by Pamela Simmons, LPC

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

It happens every week. I walk into the bathroom. There is no toilet paper on the roller. The good news is there is a new roll of toilet paper sitting right on top of the roller! Does anyone else face this dilemma? At church last Sunday, among the four of us talking, three of us are the official and only changers of the toilet paper in the house. One woman said she walked into her daughters’ bathroom and found three rolls stacked on an empty roller. Changing the toilet paper is probably the easiest of household chores, so those of us allocated that responsibility should be relieved. Instead we are annoyed. Does no one else know how to do it? Is it too much to expect that one could put a new roll of toilet paper on the roller? It’s a brainless job.
For many a mom, taking care of the home is a form of loving our families and we find joy in it. BUT—are we creating monsters of the next generation who will enter marriages expecting Hilda Housekeeper to take care of everything? Are our children and husbands blind about all we do and then cannot function when we are gone? How do we handle this? This is more than toilet paper. The issue is not the tissue. This is about the balance of power and balance of managing a home. Many couple and family fights are about chores. How do we as families address the notion of community responsibility, roles and expectations? There is a way not to do it and a way to do. Read the rest of this entry