Featured Columnists
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I’m Not OK🥹
Dealing With The Suffering of My Beloved Cat I’m so sad. My cat is dying before my eyes from a very aggressive form of lymphoma. We are going through chemo and a demanding home care routine. There are so many injections to give and pills and syrups to shove down his throat. I wish I…
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I’m there for you–the whole you
Challenges and Reflections on Caring for a Dying Pet My cat in Taiwan was diagnosed with large-cell lymphoma last month. It’s a disease with a grim prognosis, even with aggressive and successful treatments. I know he is just a pet, but he helped me survive the difficult periods early in my marriage and move…
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Talking Back
If you can’t regulate your emotions, your kid will struggle to regulate their own. You ask your kid to do something. They say something rude or snippy in return. You feel the need to correct this behavior, so you shout back at them for being rude, they shout back at you, and you’re back in…
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If Yes or No Questions Backfire, Give Choices Instead
“Can you start your homework?” (alternatively, “Have you finished your homework/ Homework.”) “No.” “Do you want to clean your room now?” “Nah.” “Wanna go to work and attend to all of your responsibilities today?” “Uh… no.” Offering choices to our children instead of asking yes/no questions can transform how they respond to you. Choices foster…
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State of ABA Industry
The behavioral healthcare industry is in trouble. For kids and families, the dire shortage of providers and difficulty obtaining services means long wait times for necessary evaluations for speech, behavior, occupational, and other therapies, prescriptions for services, and their services to begin. They may get through the entire process and not qualify for treatment. Many…
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The Ones Who Help Get You Toward Mastery
What are you really good at? How did you learn and achieve mastery? There were probably teachers and coaches who helped you along the way. Teaching is more than lecturing. It is not just showcasing your knowledge or performing. What makes a teacher good? I like Gage’s (1963) definition of teaching– “..a form interpersonal influence…
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Why are kids unhappy, stressed and anxious?
Youth mental health has been steadily declining for the past ten years. With social isolation and 55% of kids suffering emotional abuse at home, the pandemic exacerbated the crisis. A recent study conducted by nonprofit curaJOY, surveying over 1700 families, shed light on the importance of parent training and education in any solution for youth…
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The circular economy isn’t anything fancy. Circular is the way life works!
When I entered Johns Hopkins wanting to become a developmental psychologist, my mom said, “You’re too smart to become a shrink. How will you find a job and have a future? Don’t waste your intelligence!” So I switched to Neuroscience and International Studies (Hopkins’s go-to major for future I-bankers.) She was partially correct. All my…
Read more about The circular economy isn’t anything fancy. Circular is the way life works!
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Perspective-Taking To a Happier You (and Those Around You)
Do you ever notice that your kid, cat, dog, or parrot doesn’t want to play with the expensive toys you bought especially for them but prefers commonplace objects that you use daily, like your laptop, cell phone, or report printout? (My kids and pets have killed many keyboards, laptops and phones.) Children learn more from…
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The Required Expertise and Tough Grind of Foundation Building
My first assignment in a management role was not to negotiate but to announce a price list with a blanket 30% price hike and then demand increased order commitments from a room full of white men in their 40s and 50s representing national dealers and international distributors. I was in my 20s, scared, and felt…
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Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Rewards
“If I use rewards to motivate my child, how will they develop their own drive?” This is a great question from one of our software developers in Canada. Around the world, there are so many different beliefs and attitudes about motivation, where it should come from, and what it should look like. Some psychologists claim…
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Your first followers and biggest fans
Several friends around me vow never to have kids because they know how much bad parenting can hurt from personal experience and don’t want to wield the power of “ruining my kids’ lives.” I see parenthood as the easiest way to experience unconditional love and a second chance at healing wounds from your childhood. How…
