How tragic it is when listening breaks down to the point where a person gives up trying to be heard! This can happen in a relationship after a period of time when that person has repeatedly tried to share their feelings or concern and never feels heard. Let’s look at what they may be experiencing […]
Do you feel safe when communicating with your spouse or friend? I don’t mean fear of physical harm. What I mean is that you may wonder, why am I feeling stressed right now, they don’t seem to be? It may be because you and that person have different communication styles. Drs Les and Leslie Parrot […]
As a teen and family coach who has worked with thousands of teen, I often hear parents talk about how much their teen is hurting emotionally. In today’s unpredictable world, encountering hurt is as inevitable as paying taxes. It’s even more so for your teen. Add intense peer pressure, a friend’s betrayal, derogatory comments on social media, the […]
“Marrying you was the biggest mistake of my life!” “I told God that I’d rather be dead than stay married to you!” “I’m absolutely certain that I married the wrong person.” “Come back here and fight me like a man, you chicken!” “To be completely honest, I’ve lost my feelings for you.” Words have the […]
Thousands of families and kids later I have become able to identify the fine line between an empowered child and an entitled one. You want your kids to feel empowered. You tell them to speak up, be assertive and reach for their dreams. But what happens when you give your kids too much power? They […]
We want others to take us seriously, to show us respect and to listen to us. How can we make that happen? Why isn’t it happening? I think that when others see that we allow our emotions rather than our logic to make our decisions, this causes them to loose confidence in what we say. There needs […]
The things is, in a world that is ever encroaching on boundaries… physically, mentally, emotionally and even logistically we must teach and model boundaries to our kids. It’s important because “every one of us must learn to self-advocate as part of our independent process. Our moms and dads won’t always be there to take care […]
SDo you find yourself arguing with your family about so many things; your partner is unorganized, your teen procrastinates, your extended family is all about drama? Why do we continually engage in these conflicts over and over when nothing changes? I think that we assume that if we continue to engage in the interaction and we […]
Let me start by saying that I hate change. I admit it. I own it. Change scares me and triggers all my insecurities. I avoid the unknown at almost any cost (insert need for a plan and control). But as this year has harshly and dramatically thrust my life in to upheaval and change I’ve […]
Why are our core values important in a marriage or relationship? Is it possible to have a healthy relationship with different core values? My own parents had some similar core values and some very different ones. My mom was an artist who valued creativity and beauty while my father was an attorney who valued intellect […]