Articles from the Newsleter
Leader’s lines: I’m tired of helping people cope. I want to see healing.
We’ve all been living through one of the toughest times most of us will ever encounter. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been affected. The early panic about COVID gradually turned into fear, and then it became something we just had to live with, so we developed...
Am I ruining my kids?
I don’t think there’s a parent who hasn’t wondered (probably more than once) whether they’re messing up their kids’ mental health and ruining their lives. Most of us learned what we know about being parents from our own parents, and I’m sure yours grappled with the...
My daughter’s experiencing anxiety. What can I do to help?
Anxiety is tough on kids, and it’s tough on their parents, too. It’s hard to watch them struggle, and we don’t always know what to say. Sometimes, our helplessness and frustration bubbles over and we tell our daughters to “calm down” or “stop with all the drama” or...
What effect is technology having on teens?
These days, there’s a lot of chatter about the amount of exposure teens have to technology and its effects on their lives and well-being. It’s easy to get caught up in hysteria about the subject, just as it’s easy to assume technology is just the teen obsession of the...
When your teen won’t talk
Teens frequently seem to operate at extremes. Part of the time, they’re angrily yelling at us, and the rest of the time they disappear into a deep silence and won’t let us know what they’re thinking or feeling. It’s hard to say which extreme is more stressful for...
5 ways to keep kids from tearing apart your marriage
Divide and conquer. Children may not be familiar with that phrase, but they learn the strategy it describes from an early age. If they can drive a wedge between Mom and Dad, they’ll be more likely to achieve whatever it is they want or shift the focus of their...
Nobody understands what you’re going through as parent
Becoming a parent is among life’s greatest joys. It can also provide some of life’s loneliest moments. There’s little training or preparation before we’re handed a tiny human being and told whatever happens to them is our responsibility. We find our way through...
When your child doesn’t want to live any more
Few phrases are as terrifying to a parent’s ears as “I want to kill myself” or “I just want to be dead.” Being a parent involves a long series of fears, but few strike at our hearts with the terror that our children may feel such despair they would choose suicide....
3 ways to build strong kids during tough times
Being a parent is one of life’s most challenging responsibilities at the best of times. When you’re in the middle of multiple crises like those triggered by the pandemic, it becomes unimaginably challenging. At a time when we’re all doing our best to keep things...
Leader’s lines: What’s killing your kid’s resilience?
I can’t tell you how many times a friend or a client has said, “I’m glad I grew up when I did. I wouldn’t want to be a kid today.” Ignoring the fact most of us tend to look at the past with nostalgia, there is some truth to that sentiment. Today’s children are...