Family Relationships

Our generation of parents puts an exceptionally high premium on building close relationships with our children and teenagers. This creates a familial dissonance because as our children mature, they are seeking closer relationships with their peers than their parents. While parents are leaning in, often times their teenagers are leaning out. It is both developmentally […]

I’ve always enjoyed a fun, connected relationship with my own kids. In fact, when my daughter was a teen, the highest compliment she paid me was actually something I overheard her say in a phone conversation with a friend. One Friday night, her mom and I decided that later that evening we were going to […]

Caught your attention didn’t I? Yes, it’s possible, even if your teenager frequently behaves as if your existence on this earth is intolerably irritating. And you never know when your next word or action will be a terrible mistake. Trust me, I know from whence I speak. But believe it or not, adolescence is not […]

Research on defiant children shows that they tend to lack something called emotional intelligence. A lack of emotional intelligence is basically a lack of emotional maturity. The concept of emotional intelligence involves our ability to understand, use, regulate and manage our emotions as key determinants of our life success and happiness. Emotional intelligence appears to […]

Harvard’s Making Caring Common project recently surveyed 10,000 middle and high school students about what they considered to be most important to them. According to their results, about 80% of them said achievement or happiness, while roughly 20% said caring for others. How does this pertain to medicine abuse? When you care for others, you don’t […]

When teens misbehave, act in a juvenile manner, talk disrespectfully, or yell at us, it can be utterly frustrating to a parent. If a teen’s behavior deteriorates further—into failing classes, going behind our back, lying or – heaven forbid – stealing, the connection we inherently have with them can quickly morph into anger and perhaps […]