Have you been looking at that other mom’s Range Rover at the PTA meeting? Maternal jealousy is a common, corrosive emotion. Jealousy denotes a feeling of resentment that another has gained something that one feels they rightfully deserve. Jealousy also refers to anguish caused by fear of losing someone or something to a rival. Envy is an urge to spoil or devalue what is good in others. Envy and jealousy are born out of the pain of...
NEVER Let Them Walk to School Alone!
Why are we still debating whether children under the age of 13 should be allowed to walk to and from school alone? Is keeping our children safe really up for debate? As a clinical psychologist, I often counsel victims of violent crime. Given the risks that children face in our time, it is naïve and simply irresponsible to argue, as Lenore Skenazy does in her book “Free-Range Kids,” that because we were all raised in the 1970s in a...
The Heene Parents and Emotional Abuse
If what is said is true, there is clear evidence of emotional abuse and neglect. Many people think that Child Protective Services only gets involved in cases of physical and sexual abuse, but there are also categories of neglect and emotional abuse. Although it varies from state to state, emotional abuse or maltreatment is defined as a pattern of behavior by parents or caregivers that can seriously interfere with a child’s cognitive,...
Tag and Tears at the Cemetery
Today is the Yartzeit (Hebrew word for anniversary of a death) of our second child, Ozzie. He died October 18, 2002. Our son died while in utero at 26 weeks. I still remember that cold day because my then 20-month-old son was bundled up with blankets in the stroller watching our family cry and say goodbye to a child we had never really even properly said hello to. I believed or hoped that Asher would escape the pain of the death of his little...
Sexting Your Spouse and Other Fun Things!
In my private practice, I work with couples that are struggling with many issues — whether a conflict-filled marriage, a sexless one, or both. As you can imagine, they do often go together. There is the rare conflict-filled but totally passionate marriage, and the sexless marriage that seems otherwise fairly healthy. However, to have a fully connected and conscious couplehood, you need emotional safety and connection as well as a mutually...