Damion’s (*) grandmother walked into the office, eyes reluctant to connect. Sitting on the sofa, she slowly began to explain her reason for coming in. “I made this appointment for my grandson. He’s 3. The day care has threatened to suspend him. He pulled his pants down while in line
Tag: parenting
In our culture, women receive many messages that can eat away at their self-esteem. For example, self-worth equals youth and beauty. Perfection in all areas of life — professional and personal — is not only achievable, but expected. Women begin to learn these “lessons” as girls, say counseling experts. American
As counselors, we come in contact with clients who are angry or heartbroken and oftentimes feel defeated. This sense of pain and loss is frequently realized in the forensic setting in which I work with parents who are desperate to rebuild a parent-child relationship that is severely damaged or estranged.
“Rose” and “Steve” came to American Counseling Association member Laura Marshak for couples counseling because they felt they had been growing further and further apart ever since their son, “Sammy,” who was now in elementary school, had been born with cerebral palsy. Out of necessity, Steve had become the primary breadwinner
Counseling individuals and families experiencing divorce is difficult work, often fraught with conflict that is challenging to contain. A great amount of anxiety, fear, anger and sadness may be present for all of the people involved, including one or both of the spouses and the children. Each individual may feel
For the most part, the United States lacks a coherent and systematic approach to sexual education. Instead, as lampooned in an online issue of The Onion, sex education is typically informal, unorganized and inaccurate. The Onion article describes a scene in which a 10-year-old boy takes his 8-year-old cousin behind
Nine-year-old Austin is referred to counseling by his mother. She explains that he “hates his dad and never wants to see him again.” The behavior that brings Austin to counseling started occurring around the time his parents separated and has intensified as they approach the legal divorce stage of the
Working directly with parents can be either terribly frustrating or exceptionally gratifying. Many counselors initially feel both fear and frustration at the prospect of counseling parents. That was certainly the case for me. I not only felt intimidated, but I also held several negative beliefs about parents that adversely affected
A new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics has declared that children who are exposed to “toxic stress” between conception and early childhood could have lifelong problems. As New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reports: “Toxic stress might arise from parental abuse of alcohol or drugs. It could