Just Love Each Other!
Do you scream at your kids to “stop fighting and just get along”? You may want to think again — you could be doing more harm than good. Our expert tells you why. “Just love each other!” is what my mom used to say, begging with tears in her eyes to her three little girls while they were fighting. I realize that she was only doing her best at the time. You would think this is not such a bad thing to want your children to do, right? Just love each other. I must say now — having two bickering kids of my own...
read moreCaregiver Wives: For Better, For Worse
The Rose family’s end-of-summer vacation was anything but relaxing when their trip to Lake Tahoe turned into a medical emergency. Rob, the father, woke up disoriented and confused, which is unusual but not completely unexpected, considering Rob is a quadriplegic. “It was really scary being away,” said Rob’s wife, Lisa, who had high hopes for this last getaway before the kids went back to school. It turns out that Rob had problems with an implanted pump that dispenses medication for his muscle spasms. He was okay, but...
read moreJon and Kate Need a Divorce Coach
After hearing Jon say that he despises Kate and could not even sit next to his soon-to-be ex-wife on a sofa, I want to implore them to get a divorce coach. This is very different from couples therapy; the purpose of a divorce coach is to help the divorcing couple manage the process of the divorce, with the best interests of the children kept at the forefront. A divorce is a major life transition with financial, legal, and emotional ramifications. All of these areas impact a divorce. A divorce coach will help guide the couple in a...
read moreTeaching Kids to Be Good Sports
It was the sucker punch heard around the world. University of Oregon football player LeGarrette Blount hit Boise State player Byron Hout last week after their game. With such examples in the news, how do we teach our kids to be better sports than Blount was? Teaching our children good sportsmanship is key to their emotional connections with peers. Social and emotional skills are an essential part of navigating school, from preschool and beyond. Being a good sport is not just about never cheating or never trash-talking the other team; it is...
read moreCoerced Into Kidnapping?
It’s about as sordid as a story can get: Jaycee Lee Dugard, then 11 years old, kidnapped and kept as a sex slave in a backyard for 18 years, bears her captor’s two children. The alleged perpetrators of the crime are convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, both charged with 29 counts of kidnapping, rape, and lewd acts with a minor. When trying to process the story, it’s easy to want to believe that Nancy Garrido was also held captive by her husband, and was forced to participate in his disturbed sexual...
read moreThe Reconnection of Jaycee and Her Mom
Hope and courage! These are the two words that come to my mind while watching the statement made by Tina Dugard, Jaycee’s aunt, regarding the reunification and reconnection of Jaycee and her mom, Terry Probyn. I am extremely hopeful for Jaycee and her daughters. As a clinical psychologist, it was clear to me that the family is doing everything right in regards to beginning the healing process for Jaycee and her daughters. This is a time for joy, love, and connecting. We know there will be time for sharing of the horrific moments we all...
read moreNancy Garrido Misses HER Girls? Outrageous!
Nancy Garrido‘s attorney says that she misses and loves her daughters. She is, of course, referring to kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard‘s biological daughters, fathered by her accused captor and rapist Phillip Garrido — Nancy’s husband. Make no mistake about it, prosecutors have given Nancy Garrido equal billing when it comes to the criminal counts, hitting her with the same 29 charges her husband is facing — which could mean life behind bars. Nancy is accused of forcible rape, committing a forcible lewd act upon...
read moreWhy Levi Johnston Is a Terrible Father
The only thing telling about Levi Johnston‘s tell-all interview in the latest issue of Vanity Fair is that he obviously doesn’t care one whit about his one-year-old son, Tripp. If he did, he wouldn’t be ripping the family of his son’s mother apart for all the world to read. The 19-year-old father holds nothing back in his contempt for Sarah Palin, former vice-presidential candidate and former governor of Alaska. She’s a bad parent: “The Palin house was much different from what many people expect of a...
read moreSurviving Captivity: Stockholm Syndrome
Do you judge Jaycee Dugard for staying with her captors? You shouldn’t — and here’s why. As a psychologist and a mother, I have been getting a variety of responses regarding the Jaycee Dugard captivity situation. There have been more than a few mothers who said, “I wouldn’t have stayed. Why didn’t she leave?” It is important to understand the psychology of captivity. It is also imperative to understand that it is traumatic for us as humans to hear this story — and to help us feel more in control...
read moreFollow Your Intuition — Save a Child
The reason Jaycee Dugard was discovered is because of the intuition of two female security officers at the University of California at Berkeley. They were suspicious of Phillip Garrido and felt his behavior with the two female children was odd. But what got him caught was that they, unlike many of us, decided to act on their instinct even if it meant “meddling” in someone else’s affairs. The officers took his name and reported him to his parole officer. It was also clear to at least one neighbor that something strange was...
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