Where Do You Stand?

on August 21, 2017 at 5:49 PM /

Good Afternoon, This is a tough letter to write. I have been struggling for days about what to say and how to say it. As a psychologist, I work hard to be respectful, ethical, moral and not allow my political views into my work with clients. However, in light of the recent events from Charlottesville from this weekend, I have decided to go ahead and share my perspective and my position. As you may know, I am Jewish and grew up in a predominantly Jewish town in New York. I learned about the Holocaust as a child and teen, visited Israel and...

Mindful Eating: Maintaining Your Goals When a Fad Diet Isn’t Working for You

By Rice Psychology Group

on August 9, 2017 at 7:45 PM /

Written by Matthew Rigberg, LHMC Consider the following story as it relates to this week’s piece. Mike’s younger brother’s wedding is in February and he’s decided that now is the best time to start shedding a few pounds to look great at the ceremony. The problem is that Mike has tried multiple diets in the past and none have worked. He thinks it mostly stems from the fact that it’s hard for him to maintain them. Mike finds it easy at first but consistently notices that he slips back to his old eating habits. Mike believes that the problem lies in his...

The Introverted Child: Understanding This Behavior and Teaching Your Kids That it’s Perfectly Fine

By Rice Psychology Group

on July 19, 2017 at 9:07 PM /

By Elaine Spencer, Psy.D. Licensed Psychologist “She’s finally starting to come out of her shell.” “It just takes him a little longer to warm up to others.” “She’s more of a listener than a talker.” “He likes to take in what’s going on before joining others.” “She prefers to hang out with one friend at a time.” “He’s just quiet.” If you’re using these statements to describe your child, then he or she may be introverted. Parents, especially extroverted ones, often struggle to understand and figure out how to support their introverted child in an extroverted world. What can you do to be supportive of an introverted...

Dad Hacks: What Fathers Everywhere Can do to Make Life a Little Easier with the Kids

By Rice Psychology Group

on June 14, 2017 at 12:00 PM /

Have you noticed that there seems to be a day to recognize everything? I believe that the more recently invented "holidays" serve to devalue actual days of significance, such as Mother's Day, Labor Day and Father's Day. I've spent some time conversing with fellow fathers to glean a few trade secrets that can help to make being a dad a bit easier. I'd like to introduce a special feature called “Dad Hacks”. Being a parent can be tough when so much is going on in life. If you need a bit of help strategizing or some advice about tackling life’s hurdles,...

A Link Between Mind and Body: How Stress Can Effect Your Health

By Rice Psychology Group

on January 11, 2017 at 9:45 PM /

For so long, the medical and psychological communities have been thought of as separate fields. Have you got a migraine? Go to the doctor for medication! Are you suffering chronic...

The Victim, the Rescuer and the Persecutor: Understanding the Basics of Drama

By Rice Psychology Group

on December 7, 2016 at 8:30 PM /

Jack and Jill have been married for 25 years. They’ve done a wonderful job in raising their four children who’ve already made their way in the world. Jack has generally been the breadwinner of the family and Jill is thinking about returning to college to finish her degree...

Rice Psychology Group is pleased to present a screening of “SCREENAGERS: Growing Up in the Digital Age”

By Rice Psychology Group

on November 28, 2016 at 10:19 PM /

Hosted by Clearwater Central Catholic High School & Pinellas County Diocesan Middle Schools Dr. Wendy Rice and her team at Rice Psychology Group are proud to present a screening of the 2016 documentary, “Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age”. The film shows the challenges teenagers have in balancing social media, Internet addictions and video games with home life and academics. "Screenagers" addresses the most pervasive parenting issue of our time head on--depicting teen struggles over social media, video games and internet addiction. The film empowers kids to best navigate the digital world and provides practical resources to help them do it. Dr. Wendy...

The Importance of Being Mindful

By Rice Psychology Group

on September 7, 2016 at 10:22 PM /

By Amanda Schwait, Ph.D. You’ve probably seen the word “mindfulness” around a lot in the last five years. And while the word is thrown around in popular culture, I find that, oftentimes, people don’t always know exactly what it means. Jon Kabat-Zinn, one of the leading researchers and proponents of mindfulness in the United States, defines the term as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.” Mindfulness is a break from our constantly divided and analytical mind. It gives us a few moments to pay attention...

The Learning Curve: Fatherhood in Today’s Age – Part 2

By Rice Psychology Group

on August 31, 2016 at 10:38 PM /

In the first part of my fatherhood blog, I shared some of the experiences I had when I was presented with the gift of fatherhood. It wasn’t always easy, but by identifying my personal strengths and engaging my challenges, I was able to prioritize my role in my family’s system. If parenthood is in your horizon, it’s important to consider the transformation of the modern-age father. I’ll help you understand it with the following pieces of valuable information....

The Learning Curve: Fatherhood in Today’s Age – Part 1

By Rice Psychology Group

on August 24, 2016 at 9:12 PM /

“Oh, parenthood is amazing,” they told me. “I can now see how empty my life was before she was born,” was a fairly common refrain. And I looked at them sideways trying to figure out how their experience was so different than mine...