In this blog post, I want to talk about the experience of being a parent who is taking their child to therapy and trying to track if their child is getting better or not. While I’m a child/teen therapist of 25 years and work mostly with parents currently, I’m also a mom of three kids. I’m a current and past ...READ MORE »
In my work as a therapist in Washington DC at The Sibley Group and throughout my career, the main population I have worked with are adolescents and their families. This period of life can be very challenging for everyone involved, from the adolescents themselves, to their parents, to school staff and so on. It is not uncommon for me to ...READ MORE »
This post is the second in a series of three posts on how to help your child self advocate for him/herself both in the classroom and with his/her homework tasks. As a parent/family therapist, I am often helping parents with strategies on how they can help their children grow skills in a certain area. Here are some questions that ...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 »
As we start a new year under the umbrella of COVID-19, Delta, Omicron, or IHU as parents, educators, and mental health professionals we are pondering the impact of COVID on children from infants to young adults. Lockdowns, cancellations, virtual, and asynchronous learning has shown us that reframing life day by day is our new normal. The impacts of COVID-19 on children ...READ MORE »
Why play? Parents hear the term ‘play therapy’ as a recommendation from physicians and mental health professionals all the time…but how can play be therapeutic? Parents, this is an incredibly appropriate question to ask your provider and it makes sense that you want to know how investing time and money to see your little one play in a therapy room is ...READ MORE »
As a child and adolescent therapist in Washington, DC, I often find that parents are desperate to better understand the thoughts, feelings, and most of all, the behaviors of their developing teenager. Parents often want to build their understanding of this time in development and also crave strategies to help them and their child feel confident and prepared for this ...READ MORE »
Why are family routines important for my children’s well-being? Recent medical, economic, and social crises pose an ongoing threat to what is normal in children’s lives. Many have experienced upsets in routines related to school, out-of-school activities and family life. You and your children have likely experienced these upsets. Leaders of children organizations around the world agree that focusing on having and ...READ MORE »
As a therapist working with adolescents and families, the topics of gender and sexual orientation come up regularly in my work. Times have changed quickly and gender is a very popular topic not only for kids, but also for our broader culture as gender roles are evolving beyond binary terms. Back in the day (actually, not very long ago), we ...READ MORE »
In my previous article, “How to Mother a Middle Schooler: Spoiler Alert, You Already Know!” I spoke of the similarities among the toddler years and tween years. I also addressed how your middle schooler or “tween” has a desire to fit in with peers, (hence they whine, “Everyone has a phone but me!”) and their desire for more independence at ...READ MORE »
