Over the past 15 years that I’ve been providing therapy to teens and families in the Washington, DC area, the topic of psychiatric medication has come up frequently. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I don’t prescribe medication and I always recommend discussing questions and concerns with your primary care doctor or psychiatrist; but often I find that I have ...READ MORE »
One of the most common problems I have encountered through my years as a school social worker and now as a child/teen therapist in private practice in Washington, DC is families reporting significant struggles with behavior and self-regulation at home, while school reports great behavior and positive social emotional skills. This issue can be particularly frustrating for families who are ...READ MORE »
“Am I doing therapy correctly?” is a question I’ve heard more than once from many of my teen and young adult clients in my psychotherapy practice in Washington, DC and nearby Bethesda, MD. My answer is that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to do therapy. Honoring your own process and journey is important. Although your therapist may challenge ...READ MORE »
Do you have a child who is strangely smart and uniquely different (aka rather difficult at times as well)? I certainly do. He’s the one who watches YouTube videos to figure out how to build the perfect candy dispenser. He also is fascinated with the human anatomy and bodily functions, and follows a physician youtuber who refutes health remedies ...READ MORE »
I’m writing this blog the week before Thanksgiving. So, of course, gratitude and thankfulness are broadcasted everywhere these days—at Target, on your favorite podcast, in your feed, and in those pesky pop ups when you are shopping online. Yet, I want to take a completely different spin on Thankfulness this time. During this long stretch of coping with COVID, I’ve ...READ MORE »
What is Parent Management Training? Parent Management Training (PMT) is an evidenced-based psychotherapy intervention, designed specifically to teach parents behavioral interventions they can use at home when dealing with unwanted behaviors, emotional outbursts, or general defiance. PMT was developed in the 1960s by Alan Kazdin at Yale University. It has been thoroughly researched, particularly over the last 40 years. The most ...READ MORE »
This blog serves as a summary of the last two blogs on how parents can self-assess their parenting needs as they transition out of the pandemic, and ways that they can attempt to recover from the demands of the past year and a half. By offering a sample Parent Development Plan that parents can complete and execute on their ...READ MORE »
This blog follows last week’s post on Pandemic Hangovers for Parents. It offers a checklist for a PARENT CHECK-UP that parents can use to assess their needs and form better plans for themselves as they emerge from pandemic restrictions. Recently, I was meeting with a school counselor who supported hundreds of kids and almost twice that many parents during ...READ MORE »
I’m writing today about a topic that has come up in most of my sessions with parents over the past 30 days. Parents and kids are excited about summer. Families have travel plans booked. Some kids are headed off to camps. Parents are anticipating more normal work routines and benefitting from their social lives returning. Yet most parents I ...READ MORE »
… or is it? Like most of you, I’ve been spending a lot of time at home watching tv since there are only so many entertainment options during wintertime in the middle of a pandemic. One of my favorite shows that I’ve discovered during quarantine is Ted Lasso – I highly recommend it if you haven’t watched. It is heart-warming and ...READ MORE »
