Q: I have struggled with anxiety all my life. My physician’s supportive prescriptions and the patience of various counselors have helped me succeed, but I still have panic attacks. What else can I do? A: Neither I nor anyone else can completely obliterate anxiety from your psychological landscape. Often as not, anxiety is buried deep […] Read more
Tag Archives Speaking of Life column
Self-esteem can help kids deal with cliques
Q: We think our daughter is being targeted by a clique in her Grade 9 classroom. How do we help her? A: I suspect you need to sit down with your daughter and help her understand the difference between having groups of friends and being a member of a clique. She will make friends drawn […] Read more
Setting goals will help regain a sense of motivation
Q: I am no longer as motivated and enthused about life as I once was. How do I regain the driving force that once made me so successful? A: It strikes me that you do not seem to have goals. You are not pursuing anything, building anything or conquering anything. You seem to be stuck […] Read more
Home break-ins can result in loss of emotional stability
Another cost of home break-ins is the loss of emotional stability afterward. A house break-in is a violation of a person’s emotional territory.
Grandpa’s gift was in the way he gave it
Q: This is a message to all grandparents: It is not that hard to make a difference in your loved ones’ lives. We just buried our grandfather a few weeks ago. Actually, he was my great grandfather but that really makes no difference. The death was not particularly catastrophic. It was time, that is all. […] Read more
Create a family safe haven for abused child
Q: Our five-year-old son was recently sexually molested by his cousin. How do we help our boy? A: These are clearly difficult times for you and your family. I do not know if it helps to know this, but sexual abuse of children is far more common than is often known. Our best guesstimates are […] Read more
Parenting adults means learning to let go
Q: Our 23-year-old son makes a lot of bad decisions, but my counsellor tells me not to interfere. We don’t want to continue watching him go from challenge to crisis to disappointment, but we don’t know what to do. A: Your counsellor is half right. You should not be interfering in your son’s life even […] Read more
Over-protection deprives children of learning experiences
We as adults need to figure out how we are going to give our kids some of those experiences from which our over-protections are depriving them. They are not learning how to get along with each other when they are into organized sports or warmed-up cars at the end of their school days.
Guilt often associated with grieving
Q: Our unusually sensitive 21-year-old nephew is having a hard time coping with the accidental death of his 23-year-old sister. The siblings were living in different provinces at the time of her death and he had nothing to do with the accident, but he is still ridden with guilt. How can we help him overcome […] Read more
Find relief from sleep disorders
Q: Our adult son has a sleep disorder and seldom gets a good night’s sleep. What are his options besides sleeping pills? A: Instead of looking at sleep disorders as problems, we can best understand them as adaptations to life’s circumstances. Coyote pups go into a sleep-like state when their parents are away from the […] Read more
