Like a lot of married couples, my husband and I rarely get to enjoy a date night. Busy work schedules, family obligations, and - let’s face it - sometimes sheer exhaustion prevent us from making quality couple time a priority. But according to a recent study conducted by The National Marriage Project, today’s parents are foregoing date night at our own peril. Researchers at The University of Virginia determined that couples who go out together at least once a week are three times more likely to report being ‘very happy’ in their relationships, they are less likely to get divorced, and they make better parents, too.
Learning that you, your spouse, or another family member suffers from an incurable illness or a serious, possibly fatal injury is devastating. After the initial shock, you may wonder how to break the news to your children. “What we try and tell parents is that we can’t fix things that are heartbreaking, but we can make them easier to understand,” says Heather Kinney, CCLS, CPST, a senior child life specialist at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCU).
When it comes to seeking the support of a child psychologist, there can be many different driving forces for families. Because of the complex and dynamic nature of children’s development, however, it can be challenging for some parents to identify when it may be time to seek help and contact a psychologist. Although there will always be variability in when parents choose to obtain psychological services for their children, the following points aim to offer parents guidance about some (though not all!) instances in which a child psychologist may be able to offer support.
There are always some common parenting myths that seem to pop up as questions in my classes of teaching parenting over the last twenty years. I am constantly amazed at how widespread these myths are across North America and Europe. There is no research to support these myths, but they tend to persist as advice gets passed down from generation to generation.
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