Your Lying Teen, and What You Can do About it.
Tom was sitting at the kitchen table, attempting to do homework when his mother said, “The school called today, and I guess you were involved in a fight on the bus?” Tom, “I wasn’t in a fight on the bus.”…
How to Tell a Troubled Teen from a Normal Teen
It’s been almost six years since he entered my office, but I think of him often. I can still see his skinny brown legs sprawling out of his denim shorts, (they weren’t so baggy back then) and his brown hair…
Moral Decisions; Is it Ever Okay to Steal?
Sylvia is dying from a rare form of cancer. There is one drug the doctors think might save her recently developed by a druggist near her. The drug is expensive to make, about $400 for a small dose, but the…
Narcissists; How to Identify the Self-Centered, Self-Interested, Egotistical, Arrogant, and Conceited Among Us
Lisa and Geraldo divorced about three years ago. Geraldo was outraged, and let me make one thing perfectly clear, no one rejects Geraldo, ever, without paying a price. They currently share custody of their two adolescent sons, and Geraldo controls…
Are You Talking to me Like you Know me? Emotional Boundaries
While waiting for my tires to be installed at Costco last week, I went inside to eat a pretzel. The eating area was packed with people, and filled with the smell of hot dogs and pizza. As I was sitting…
Physical Boundaries; Or Where You End and I Begin
On the road where I live there once was a big wooden climbing set with swings and a colorful stripped canopy. It sat between two houses and was surrounded by lawn chairs, a hammock and a sand box. The families…
Divorce: Part 2 What About the Children?
My friend Leona delivered her son Ethan in a bath of warm water with soothing music playing in the background, and as a baby he was exposed to all the latest toys to stimulate his mental and physical growth. She…
Divorce: Part 1 Surviving the Decision
It was a simple, yet elegant wedding in a small church in central Phoenix. Xandi was the first child in our group of friends to get married, and both she and her groom appeared to be filled with hope. But…
How To Give The Right Kind Of Help
In my own mind the whole thing looks like a scene from a Christmas card. It’s snowing outside, nighttime, and the weary traveler sees a warm yellow light calling from the humble cottage ahead. I’m inside, stirring soup in a…
