Teenage years are vital to forming new relationships, and building new social support groups. Teens want to fit in and feel accepted among friends. Yet they still want their parents’ support and love. Caring parents want happy kids, so they buy stuff to meet their child’s wants and needs. ButRead More

Many of us deal with tremendous stress every day. Too much stress can damage our sense of wellbeing. We may struggle with a relationship, a job, an illness, or powerlessness about violence and problems in the news. But if we feel too overwhelmed our mental health can suffer.   StressRead More

You can probably think of a time when you were truly terrified. If you can recall it calmly now that’s a good sign you’ve healed from the experience. You feel secure, knowing the bad experience is in the past. Ideally, our brain and body work together to restore calm afterRead More

When children are little, parents have lots of control over their activities and choices. Parents can directly impact what happens when children act out or become upset. All this changes with teenage emotions. A parent’s direct control diminishes as young children become teens, whether we like it or not. RespondingRead More

One of the biggest — and toughest — jobs parents have is helping children manage strong emotions.  When our child is acting out or has an emotional outburst, it can make us as parents feel anxious, helpless, and sometimes angry.  Typically, those feelings are remnants from how we were raised.Read More