Sibling relationships are most likely the longest-lasting you’ll have in your life. We love our sibs and we absolutely hate our sibs, too! Our bonds with our brothers and sisters help define who we are in conjunction with our parental relationships. Conflicts between siblings are inevitable, because, in many ways, we are wired to compete for the attention of our parents. How parents respond to these conflicts can contribute to the success...

How do people recover from a broken relationship (or I should say, “a break in relationship”)? This means basically that someone in the relationship has decided to walk away, totally and completely. When the ties that bind us together as a family are shredded and on the ground, what is the one left holding the pieces to do? In my practice, I’ve worked with grandparents who are estranged from their grown children and their...

I am sitting here with a scowl on my face fighting with my 6-year-old because she is being annoying. She is hungry, she has already had dinner and, yes, two bowls of ice cream. I have offered her cheese, an apple and ven a fruit roll-up, which in some homes is considered dessert! She shoots me her perfecteed stink eye and is clearly not cooperating. I am tired. My husband is really tired and already asleep on the sofa with the Golf...

After years of working with victims of domestic violence, it’s clear to me when I listen to the tapes of Mel Gibson apparently berating ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva (the mother of his child) that we are dealing with a classic domestic-violence situation. The abuser (Mel) has lost power and control over his victim (Oksana), and he continues to verbally abuse and threaten her to regain control. In the latest tapes, he is treating Oksana...

The mayor of an affluent Dallas suburb shot and killed her 19-year-old daughter and then turned the gun on herself. The two were found Tuesday evening when the usually prompt mayor failed to show up at a meeting. A letter greeted the police on the front door, warning them of the unpleasant scene they would be encountering when they walked inside the home. Mayor Jayne Peters had worked for the city in some capacity since 1998. Her daughter,...