InnerSelf.com

by Jim Taylor, Ph.D.

What do kids really need to be successful and happy people? Parents, educators, and society as a whole couldn't ask a more important question. How you answer this question will determine how you will raise your child, and, ultimately, what kind of adult he will become... 

by Joseph Chilton Pearce.

  Bonding gives an intuitive, extrasensory kind of relationship between mother and child. Bonding is a felt process, not available to discursive thought, language, or intellect. It is a communion that bypasses our ordinary reasoning mind. The mother senses the infant's need to evacuate the same way she recognizes her own bodily needs, but the communion of bonding goes beyond just physical processes.

by Sonia Choquette.

A common childhood fear is fear of the dark. Many children become terrified of the dark and can't go to sleep in a darkened room alone, convinced the "bogeyman" or some other night creature is waiting in the shadows to get them. I had a client whose son was terrified of the dark. He was a perfectly adventurous child during the day, extremely outgoing and interested in discovering new things, but come nighttime he would fall apart, begging not to be left alone.

by Samuel Osherson, Ph.D.

We all know that it's best to avoid getting into control struggles with our kids -- battles over going to bed on time, cleaning up rooms, getting homework done, completing college applications when they're due. Yet power struggles are not so easy to avoid. What parent doesn't at times feel locked in a battle in which no one wins and no one surrenders?

by Richard O'Connor, Ph.D.

The number of children on Ritalin is rising at a truly alarming rate. At the same time, the incidence of clinical depression among adults -- including parents -- is almost epidemic, and continues to rise. We need to understand the connection between...

by Julia Loomans.

When I was little, my mom and I used to have a lot of fun turning old ideas around and changing the meaning into something we enjoyed more. When we heard someone say, "I'm going to kill two birds with one stone," we changed it to "I'm going to feed two birds with one seed!

by Francesca Cappucci Fordyce.

When parents have a baby, they unwittingly have to deal with their own brittle past. At every new stage, memories sneak up. A parent recalls what happened when they were that age. Just as we cope with unfulfilled expectations, the most effective way to avoid recalling childhood memories is to keep moving. There is a syndrome of "running parents", always on the go. The neurosis of running becomes a family affliction, parents insist that their children remain busy as well.

Acceptance is the hallmark of many Eastern teachings. Author Melodie Beattie says, "Acceptance is the magic that makes change possible." You are able to make the space for change if you accept and validate what is. The opposite of acceptance and validation is judgment and denial, which make us tense up, lose our center, criticize ourselves and others, and hold impossible standards for everyone. When we are being judgmental, we invalidate ourselves and others.