Parents who neglect or abuse their children, negatively affect brain development of the child.
. Children will continue to be haunted by their abuse into their adult years and will experience psychological problems. There are many ways to become involved with Child Abuse Prevention Month
April is Child Abuse and Neglect Awareness Month. For the past 32 years, child abuse awareness activities have been planned for and participated in April.
[More]
If your child is struggling with Social Anxiety, it’s important to know that you are not alone. It is a very common disorder that can be treated effectively. Listening to your child, and providing support and encouragement will go a long way toward helping your child recover from this disorder. Social anxiety does not have to limit your child or keep them on the sidelines.
[More]
Rehoming. Disruption. Dissolution. These terms have been tossed around flippantly, often used interchangeably, in the news lately. However, they each encompass very different meanings and have different implications in the world of adoption. This month, Arkansas State Representative Justin Harris and his wife Marsha continually made headlines for rehoming their two adopted daughters to a friend they knew for years. This ‘friend’ eventually raped one of the girls (Arkansas State Representative, 2015).
[More]
March 17, 2015
by Mary Horn, Psy.D.
American youth are growing up in a society where competition and the pressure that comes with it, begin at the very beginning of their life experiences. It is not uncommon for parents to go to classes, read books, do research, and gather as much information as they can about parenting. Well-meaning parents want the best for their children. There are programs for babies to read, infants to swim, even sports that begin in toddlerhood. Often, parents will pick homes in good school districts so they can ensure a good education for their children.
[More]
Long thought to be a psychological disorder that occurred only in adults, depression now is diagnosed frequently in children under 10 years of age. As recently as 40 years ago, physicians doubted the existence of depression in children (Son & Kirchner, 2000). Now one study reported in American Family Physician (ibid) suggested 2% of children under the age of puberty can be diagnosed with some form of depression.
[More]
There is no doubt that adoption is an emotional process for families, from the initial decision to pursue adoption all the way through negotiating childrearing and adulthood. Adoption is not a simple process, but a complex series of interactions that can be frustrating and daunting. Emotionally fulfilling and at the same time taxing, adoptive families almost universally agree that it is an overall enriching life experience that they wouldn’t change. What’s perhaps most unexpected for families is how their experience of the process is emotionally so similar to that experience that their adoptive child experiences.
[More]
A recent article in Huffington Post outlined the devastating statistic that may shock a large amount of Americans: over half of America’s school-aged children live below the poverty line in the United States today, utilizing whether or not a family qualifies for free or reduced lunch as the standard measurement for poverty.
[More]
While the signs and symptoms of depression are the same for adolescents and adults, depression in teens often presents very differently from adults (ibid.). It is imperative, therefore, for parents, teachers, and professionals involved with adolescents to know the different ways teens show their depression.
[More]
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has become a common diagnosis among U.S. children, especially boys. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013) recently released the results of its National Survey of Children’s Health for 2011-2012. In it the CDCP reported an estimated 6.4 million children with a diagnosis of ADHD. This number represents approximately 11% of the children in the United States.
[More]
When people think of discipline and children, the two things that instantly come to mind are spanking and timeouts. But the reality is that discipline can be much more than just these two options. There is a whole spectrum of ways to change the behavior of a child without only using punishment as a means to mold it.
[More]