Blog
Trusting Your Mom Intuition
As part of the assessment process I always conduct an interview to get an overview of the issues of concern. When a child is struggling, typically there will be suggestions of disorders that have been raised by different professionals along with opinions offered from...
Talking to Parents About their Kid’s Stuff: A Play in One Act
The Characters: Mom and dad of seven year old starting second grade after Dr. Selz has evaluated their seven year old child and reviewed some of the findings. Setting – Sitting around a table somewhere in South Jersey. ------------------------ Parents: So, what do we...
“We Can’t Diagnose, But…”
By Wednesday of each week, I find myself in a bit of a self-imposed panic that I haven’t written the post yet for the week and feel the pressure of Friday looming (when the posts come out). What am I going to write about this week? Have I written this before? Is it...
New School Year: 4 Top Tips
You're muttering to yourself that you can't believe the summer has gone by as quickly as it has. You wonder whether you've done enough of the traditional summer activities before it's all gone. And then there is the pit in the stomach. I know you're feeling it. The...
The Tail is Not Wagging the Dog: Part III Parenting Misc.
In this, the third of three blog posts on parenting, we highlight a mindset that can help you with challenging, “emphatic children.” As you will recall from the last two posts Parenting Post I- "Hey Bud", Parenting Post Part II - "Hey, Bud," continued) we do not...
“Come On, Bud” – Parenting Reflections Part II
Last week we talked about a style of parenting that I dubbed, “Come 0n, Bud,” after this style was ridiculed by Bill Mahre in a recent stand-up special. ("Come On, Buddy...") We emphasized that kids are driven by one primary motivation (i.e., pleasure) and that they...
Hey, Bud. How About We Get Ready For Bed
On a recent HBO special featuring Bill Maher, he spent part of his routine focusing on modern children and their parents. Maher said something like, “First of all, where did parents get the idea that they have to negotiate with their kids about everything? I see this...
9 Years In – Some Themes Reemerge
Wow! I just found out that I’ve just reached my ninth anniversary of writing these blogs. The first one was published on 6/24/2009 (2009 Blog Post). Time does fly. Having written nearly 320 of these posts, I do my best to try to keep things fresh, but I know there...
“I’ve Got Anger Issues”
One of my favorite kids, Sam, came in to see me this week. Nearly six and going into first grade in the fall, I’ve been tracking Sam since he was three. Sam’s had issues with “behavioral self-regulation,” as the mental health professionals might say. (In other words,...
Nostalgia Continued – What Experts Told Us in 1964
(Not sure why I have been in such a nostalgic mood lately. On YouTube I’ve been watching old horses from bygone eras win the Triple Crown. Perhaps it was seeing my third Triple Crown victory a couple of weeks ago that has sent me into a reverie of remembrance. (I...
Mining the Nuggets
Admittedly, I have trouble letting go of things. If a magazine had an article about the Rolling Stones, for example, it could never be thrown out. Boxes of such magazines in my attic, along with an assortment of other memorabilia speak to the streak of sentimental...