by Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, MS, LPC, author of The Anger Workbook for Teens

Do you counsel parents who are at their wit's end with a child who throws tantrums, destroys things, or is defiant? If so, here's some information for parents that can help.

Children are constantly soaking in what's going on around them. Studies are showing that even when parents don't think that their kids listen, they do. Parents are one of the strongest influences in a child's life. They set the bar. So be sure that parents are modeling appropriate anger management skills. Besides being the model of behavior, parents should teach children specific skills to manage anger.

Want to give a gift that someone you love is likely to keep forever and will be meaningful to them for the rest of their lives? Regardless of the relationship, a validation letter is one of the most meaningful gifts you could choose. Sending a validation letter each year creates a tradition that will serve as a chronicle of the person's life as shared with you. Writing validation letters for young children serves as another way to communicate their importance to you and how much you love them. When they are older they will enjoy reading about your experience of their taking their first step, for example.

Read the rest of the piece here.

The Power of Validation is published! While written as a parenting book focused on young children, the book teaches the steps of validation and can be used by anyone who wants to improve their relationships, by families of those with borderline personality disorder, and by anyone who wants to learn to validate him or herself.

Read the piece here.

by guest blogger Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, MS, LPC, author of Anger Workbook for Teens

Sexting behaviors are experiencing rampant growth among college students. According to a study conducted by the University of Rhode Island, 4 out of 5 college kids have received sexually suggestive messages. Out of the 204 participants, approximately 56 percent reported that they have received sexual images and 17 percent of those surveyed have forwarded those messages to others.

But college students aren't the only ones sexting. Just recently there were about two dozen teenagers caught in a sexting ring in Vermont. The 17 girls that were in the pictures were ages 14-17. I would venture to say that none of the parents were aware that their daughters were taking risqué photos of themselves and sharing them with others. Likewise, I bet the boy's parents weren't aware that they were sharing these photos with one another via shared email accounts.

In a recent interview with WJBC, Sara Rosenquist, PhD, author of After the Stork: The Couple's Guide to Preventing and Overcoming Postpartum Depression , said that both women and men experience postpartum depression.

Listen to her interview here.

excerpt from My Mother, My Mirror by Laura Arens Fuerstein, Ph. D.

In the West, neuroscientists and therapists write that one of the main things that separates our minds from those of animals is that we know we exist. As Mark Solms and Oliver Turnbull (2002) state in The Brain and the Inner World, our brain is the unique, enigmatic organ that gives us that sense: “The brain…is the seat of the mind, somehow producing our feeling of being ourselves in the world right now”.

And pediatrician and analyst Donald Winnicott (1986) writes in Playing and Reality that we must have that experience of “just being” before we can act, create, explore, relate, or do. Winnicott’s “false self”—rigid and inauthentic—will emerge if an infant has to adapt to her care¬giver’s needs. The false self covers over the true self—which is fluid and authentic—if that’s what’s needed in order for the child to keep her mother’s love.

Buddhist thoughts about the self contrast with Western ones, as described above. As Mark Epstein (1995) tells us in Thoughts Without a Thinker, Buddhist scholars write that it is only when we stop trying to find a true self that we experience life in a real way: “In the Buddhist view, a realized being has realized her own lack of a true self”.

excerpt from The Joy of Parenting by Lisa W. Coyne Ph.D. and Amy R. Murrell Ph.D.

Take a moment to think about the relationships in your life that are most important to you—those in which you feel closest to someone else. What is it about those relationships that you most value? Take a few moments and jot down your thoughts about this in your parenting journal. If you’re like many parents, one of the valued characteristics you listed may have been “feeling heard.” When we’re very lucky, we find ourselves in relationships in which people “get” us—they have a solid understanding of our wants, desires, and dreams. They communicate that understanding in how they behave around us—by calling our attention to things we care about or being thoughtful without being asked and without expecting anything in return. Because these things are important to you, you won’t be surprised that these same attributes are probably what your child most values and trusts about her relationship with you. Taking time to nurture a relationship like this with your child is important. After all, you’re the “base” from which your child ventures out into the world. You ensure his safety and offer a lens through which he will view other important relationships throughout his life. You show your young child how to be in the world by the way you relate to and behave with him. And that is an enormous responsibility—as well as an exquisite gift. In order for your child to feel heard, it’s important to be “attuned” to your child. Attunement means having a rich, detailed understanding of your child. As you become more attuned to your child, you’ll be able to empathize with her thoughts and feelings, respond to her wishes, and facilitate her goals. You will also be able to better predict what your child will do next and to take in new information about your child as she grows—even when it might be inconsistent with your past experience of her. In short, attunement means openness to your child, and this capacity will help you to respond in a sensitive, caring way to her needs. Mindful awareness is an extremely helpful way to become fully present to your child and to enhance your attunement to her. Find some time—about fifteen minutes—for the exercise below, in which you’ll explore some ideas for nurturing your relationship with your child.

by guest blogger Susan Eikov Green, author of Don’t Pick On Me

It is very telling that the word “sexting” is not listed in the Merriman-Webster or American Heritage dictionaries. So where can you find a definition for this word that appears on television news programs and in newspapers and magazines? Wikipedia, of course. And that is perfectly apt, because “sexting” is a word born of the Internet.

Sexting - a combination of sex and text - is “the act of sending sexually explicit photographs and messages primarily between cell phones.” And for teen-agers, who don’t think twice about whipping our their phones, taking nude pictures of themselves, and sending those pictures to friends and boyfriends or girlfriends, it is an act rife with serious emotional and legal consequences.

excerpt from The Attachment Connection by Ruth P. Newton, Ph.D.

Raising secure, emotionally competent, cooperative children who have full access to their creativity and expression is desperately needed for the health of the human race and the health of the planet. Raising secure children matters. Becoming more secure yourself also matters, not only for your own happiness but also for the child you are raising. So, no matter what your financial status is, what your culture, your ethnicity, your educational level, no matter if you are two parents, one parent, or a divorced parent, a family-member parent, a stepparent, an adopted parent, a foster parent, or have any other configuration at home, the greatest gift you can give your child is a secure attachment.

So what is attachment?

excerpt from The Holistic Baby Guide

It is unfortunate that your baby can easily develop recurrent and chronic ear problems. At about six months, babies lose the maternal antibodies that protected them from common viral and bacterial infections. After that age they become susceptible, and they need to develop their own antibodies to these pathogens. If one of these viruses or bacteria happens to cause an ear infection, then your pediatrician may prescribe antibiotics. This is often the beginning of recurrent ear problems. Continuing to treat the fluid that collects in the middle ear or repeated red eardrums with more antibiotics just exacerbates the problem. And sometimes babies will have these ear problems even if they don’t get antibiotics. In this chapter you will learn the reasons that these ear problems tend to plague babies and find out how to cure them.