It may be hard to believe but recent research has found that teens who learn how to argue effectively by practicing on their parents are far more likely to be able to resist peer pressure down the line. So now we know that at least all the arguing is good for something since it drives most […]
Confronting the Fear of Change
“I wonder why progress looks so much like destruction.” -John Steinbeck I have loved this quote for thirty years and a few others like it. I think it’s essential to have a touchstone to hold onto during times of rapid and radical change. Given how easy it is, in the face […]
Emotional Self-Healing for Couples and Families
“Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back. They teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we’d rather collapse and back away. They’re like messengers that show us, with […]
Happy Families Have Feelings Too…
“Feelings are what connect us to life and to one another. To be able to feel is one of the extraordinary gifts of humanity. To neither suppress our feelings nor be caught by them but to withstand them, that is the art.” […]
Learning to Laugh Together
“We don’t laugh because we’re happy, we are happy because we laugh.” -William James One of my mentors and teachers was the late Annette Goodheart, a psychotherapist, teacher, and laughter coach extraordinaire. I met Annette in 1979 when husband Don and I first settled in Santa Barbara. Annette had just begun her private practice at […]
Depressed Dads Need Help to Help Their Kids
For many years, the medical community has known that when moms are depressed, it puts their children at risk for more emotional and behavioral problems but until recently, the impact of fathers’ emotional health on the children was unexamined. According to a new study which appears in the December issue of the journal Pediatrics, a child’s odds of […]
