Earlier this year, I released Flooded: A Brain-Based Guide to Help Children Manage Emotions. The book was for parents, educators and caregivers and just after releasing it, the message I heard from readers was clear: we need a book like this for kids. I’d been sharing this information with kids in my office for many […]
1 in 6 children meet the criteria for a mental health disorder. By adulthood that number will double. In 2019, the World Happiness Organization reported the United States was the least happy it has ever been. One of the reporters said, “By most accounts, Americans should be happier now than ever. The violent crime rate […]
I was a contributor for this article for Fabric magazine. I think it has a lot of good points for those who have little ones during this time. Enjoy! My 4-year-old sulks after her preschool video chat, frustrated that her friends are so close but still out of reach. My 1-year-old’s sleep patterns were shaky […]
The counselor is not the strategy. The counselor teaches strategies. In the fall of 2000, I began my career as a school counselor. I had gone to a very nice graduate school where I had learned very nice theories and developed fanciful ideas about what my job would be like and what kind of counselor […]
It’s 10:00 AM on a Tuesday and I sit down in front of my computer to have a virtual counseling session with a high school senior. The WiFi drops, comes back on again, then drops again. This is my new reality: trying to be present and capture the emotional intensity of the many kids who […]
The first line of my new children’s book, Marcy’s Having All the Feels is, “Marcy wanted to be happy. Happy is all she wanted to be.” I would guess that most of us feel very similar Marcy. We want to feel happy, confident and excited and when we don’t, we rush to change our situation […]
The numbers are astounding. Kids and adolescents all over the country are struggling with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and a slew of other emotion-based issues at a staggering frequency. But why? We have blamed video games. We’ve thrown social media under the bus and overscheduling has also held the spotlight for a number of years. […]
No one wants to feel discomfort. We want our days to run smoothly, make it to work on time, our kids to have successful days at school, to get to bed on time after we’ve eaten a healthy dinner and had a nice workout earlier in the day. But this doesn’t always happen. We get […]
One of the scariest experiences as a parent is not knowing what’s going on with your child. When you get a “my day was fine,” over and over again followed by an “I don’t know,” or “I don’t want to talk about it,” parents get frustrated and start asking more questions. These questions only lead […]
Another senior sits in my office stressed about college. “It’s $50,000 a year,” she says. “I don’t want my parents to have to pay for it. I don’t know if my parents can pay for it and even if they can, what if I’ve chosen the wrong college?” We can chalk college stress up to […]
