Blog Education

Many families have at least one member who is content to just let life happen to them instead of letting life happen for them and that means taking personal responsibility for the direction of their own life. Often this family member is a son or daughter who just doesn’t seem to be engaged, focused and present; they don’t seem to be living life at all, they seem to be avoiding it. It isn’t that they are unintelligent or lack gifts, … Continued

The Big 3: Budget, Menu Plan and Shopping List When you have a Budget, a Menu Plan and a Shopping List in place, you don’t have to make decisions in the moment. The human brain is an amazing instrument that has an incredible ability to learn and then routinize what it has learned. Put in another way, it has the ability to form habits. This works in our favor most of the time because it allows us to accomplish tasks … Continued

Setting solid boundaries is a way to express your self-respect and confidence to others.  Boundaries are personal lines that show others who you are and who you are not.  Boundaries also show others what you will do and what you will not do.  The clearer that line is drawn, the greater the opportunity for others to know the true you.  If the line in the sand is windswept or washed away by the rising tide, for example, the more risk … Continued

What is an extinction burst? This term is probably unfamiliar to most people, but you’ve most likely seen one before, especially if you have kids.  If you don’t have kids, you’ve probably seen one unfold at the store or the mall or even at a friend’s home.  An extinction burst is a sudden and temporary increase in “undesirable” behavior when the behavior is no longer reinforced.  Simply put, an extinction burst looks like a tantrum, in fact, that’s pretty much what it … Continued

What is a Healthy Habit? Thefreedictionary.com defines a healthy habit as, “A behavior that is beneficial to one’s physical or mental health, often linked to a high level of discipline and self-control.”  According to Charles Duhigg, best-selling author of the book The Power of Habit and award-winning reporter at the New York Times explains that habits contain a three step loop consisting of a cue, a routine, and a reward. In fact, this cue, routine, reward loop (habits) shapes each and every day … Continued

A therapist once told me that whining is anger coming out of a small opening.  It made me laugh because all too often it’s true! Do you have a whiner in your family?  Almost everyone knows someone in their family who always has something to complain about. Regardless of how far from home they may be, they still find time to whine about their job, their apartment, their roommates, their professors and their hard life.  They take the pessimistic view, finding some way … Continued

  “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn There is no doubt that the mind and the body have an unalterable tie. When our body is not living up to its capability, our mind suffers. Likewise, if our mind is not in balance, or we give way to self loathing, doubt and stress, our body can be negatively affected. When talking about how physical fitness can affect our mental fitness, we … Continued

Behavioral concerns in the adolescent population have become more prevalent in recent years. Approximately 1 in every 4 adolescents meets criteria for a mental or behavioral disorder that impairs daily life (Merikangas, et al, 2010). These disorders range from anxiety and social phobias to depression and suicidal ideation. The numbers are actually quite staggering, right? As we know, these young adolescents eventually turn into 18-year-old young men and women who are now required to make life decisions, cut the cord, … Continued

When you send your son into the world to make his fortune, you may be worried about his ability to function on his own.  You want him to be able to stretch his wings and fly. When he makes his first solo voyage, whether he’s going to school or working an internship, you hope he will learn and grow and gain in confidence as he exercises his abilities and learns new skills.  You hope that his experiences will empower him to … Continued

The Flip Side to Gaming We all know that one guy who hides in his room and spends countless hours online, gaming through the night into the wee hours of the morning  with a fresh supply of Mountain Dew and Doritos within easy reach. I think we can all agree that this kind of lifestyle is an unhealthy one. We can also see the flip side of this scenario as well.  People who are not abusing video games.  What is happening with this … Continued