Tag Archives: Psychiatrist

Taming the Mood Monster: Gloomy, Blue Eeyore

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Many of us recall watching Winnie the Pooh as children. The best of friends, Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore live together in the Hundred Acre Wood. Each character is unique – hunny-loving Pooh, fretful Piglet, persnickety Rabbit, winsome and buoyant Tigger, and gloomy, blue Eeyore. Always sad with his head hung low, Eeyore expects the worst, thinks very little of himself, and struggles to enjoy his friends or his life. Sometimes our children fall into a bit of a funk. Much like us, they have bad days too.  Even in their youth, they face a myriad of challenges such as […]

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Taming the Mood Monster: The Fiery Dragon

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Anger. We all recognize this strong emotion. Clenched fists, stomping feet, loud and harsh words, and a menacing gaze – I envision a wrathful dragon spewing fire that destroys everything in its path. Sometimes anger even manifests as physically aggressive behavior or destruction of property.  Many children find managing their anger quite difficult, particularly if they have a psychiatric diagnosis like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Even children without mental disorders struggle with temper outbursts. My 6-year-old son is especially prone to such outbursts. While he is all things wonderful most of the time, he is […]

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Bullying – 10 Facts to Know

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1) Bullying is a defined as unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that is repetitive, involves a real or perceived power imbalance, and is designed to cause fear, distress or harm 2) There are 4 types of bullying – verbal, social, physical, and cyberbullying 3) Verbal bullying – saying or writing mean things, name calling, teasing, making inappropriate sexual comments 4) Social bullying – designed to malign a child’s reputation or negatively impact peer relationships, intentionally leaving someone out, telling other peers not to be friends with someone, spreading rumors 5) Physical bullying – pushing, hitting, kicking, intentionally breaking someone’s […]

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The 10 Commandments of Healthy Parenting, Part III

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7) Respect goes both ways R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Aretha Franklin sang about; and, we all expect, no, demand it, from others, especially from our children. But oftentimes we fail to show our children the very respect we are seeking. A few respect rules in our house are: Wait until mommy and daddy finish talking before you interrupt and start asking us a million questions Make eye contact when we are engaging in conversation Knock before barging into mommy and daddy’s bedroom Simply respond “yes m’am/sir” or “no m’am/sir” rather than sighing heavily, pouting, yelling, or stomping off even when you don’t like what […]

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The 10 Commandments of Healthy Parenting, Part II

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4) Exercise the gift of choice Many days all I want is for each of my children to do exactly what I say exactly when I say it and to do it without grumbling, loud and heavy sighs, or 20 questions. This would make my life so much easier; but, oftentimes there are protests and rebuttals. To interrupt the brewing dissension, I offer my children choices. Do you want to wear blue or black shorts today? Do you want chicken or turkey burgers for dinner? Would you rather grab lunch now or go with me to the store to pick […]

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The 10 Commandments of Healthy Parenting, Part I

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I am the mother of 3 amazing children – 2 daughters ages 2 and 9 and a 6-year-old son.  Parenting is simultaneously the most wonderful and challenging experience of my adult life.  You might think I would have it altogether – I mean I am a board certified child psychiatrist, right? Well, these 3 have given me a run for my money and manage to do it every single day. While I know all about the science behind normal childhood development and strategies to manage temper outbursts, applying the knowledge and skills firsthand with my own children is brutal, especially […]

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