The Sweet Side of Halloween: How To Go Through Your Child’s Candy and What To Look For

on October 15, 2023 at 6:40 PM /

Halloween is considered one of the most fun and creative times of the year. Allowing your little ones to dress up as their favorite monster or video game character is only half of it, though. The other exciting part is going out and trick-or-treating! Parents, while going house to house and grabbing as much candy as possible is a fun and exciting time for your kids, it’s important you are aware of the candy they are receiving and how much of it they are actually eating. Before your kids head out on Halloween night, Rice Psychology Group wants to share...

OCD at Home: How Families Can Work Together for Progress

By Rice Psychology Group

on October 10, 2023 at 5:28 PM /

Parenting is tough. Parenting a kid with OCD? Even tougher. Parents often do whatever they can to alleviate their child’s distress related to their OCD. Sometimes, though, what they do ends up reinforcing their child’s OCD, which can make their OCD stronger. Many families accommodate their child’s OCD. How could you not? It is difficult to watch your child struggle. Some family accommodations are appropriate as well. How do you know what is reinforcing their OCD vs. what is helping? At Rice Psychology in Tampa, we recognize how difficult it can be to make this distinction. Here are some examples...

Halloween Jitters: 5 Tips for Parents to Take the Fright Out of this Fun Holiday

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on October 8, 2023 at 4:32 PM /

If you’re the parent of a young child and are dreading Halloween, then you’re not alone. Many parents fear exposing their young ones to scary things like costumes, masks, movies and such. But breathe a sigh of relief because our licensed mental health counselors and psychologists in Tampa want to offer five tips to make Halloween fun and not scary! Select the Right Costume Get creative with your child’s costume. This is the perfect time to sit down with your child and brainstorm together. If your little one frightens easily, try something fun and more traditional like a: Bedsheet-style ghost Friendly vampire...

Empowering Parents: Supporting a Child Who is Self-Harming

By Rice Psychology Group

on September 27, 2023 at 12:56 PM /

Finding out your child has self-harmed might be one of the most challenging things you can go through as a parent. You may feel disappointed, confused, angry, guilty, in denial, or all the above. How could the child you have spent so much time and energy on feel the need to hurt themselves? The answer is complicated and different for each child. What is Self-harm? Self-harm is any action that a person takes to cause injury outside of socially acceptable practices and without suicidal intent. Common forms of self-harm include cutting, burning, and hitting/punching self, but they can take many other forms....

Suicide Prevention: Knowing When & Where to Get Help

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on September 8, 2023 at 8:03 AM /

By Wendy Rice, Psy.D. Licensed Psychologist Believe it or not, suicidal thoughts are frequent visitors to therapy sessions. At Rice Psychology in Tampa, we recognize that these thoughts typically arise when life’s stressors become too overwhelming for a person’s coping abilities. Some clients express thoughts of not wanting to be alive, thinking their family would be better off without them or having no hope for improvement in their life. While some of these statements may be vague, it is our duty to take the necessary steps to keep the person safe. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, suicide is the...

Election Tension: When Families Flare Up with Politics

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on July 24, 2023 at 11:47 AM /

The political landscape of 2023 has been incredibly contentious, to say the least. It has forced us, as a nation, to have conversations about difficult topics, take sides, and frequently butt heads with others. Maybe you have noticed that sharing opinions and information is more intense than ever. How can we safeguard our friendships and bonds with family from political disagreements? Our licensed mental health counselors and psychologists in Tampa want to share some thoughts about this very important topic. The Party Defense Unfortunately, too many political discussions drift toward the unreasonable. Often, these discussions center around defending one’s political party and...

Navigating ADHD: A Guide for Every Struggling Parent

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on July 20, 2023 at 12:27 AM /

As a parent, we know you want to give your kid the best, including helping them succeed and making their struggles or pain disappear. However, when your child’s behavior seems uncontrollable and there’s a chance that ADHD could be playing a role, it could be a bit more complicated and we’re here to help. Our Tampa Psychologists know that dealing with a new diagnosis can be overwhelming and confusing. Disorders like ADHD can especially be difficult to navigate when there is a lot of information provided by different sources. So how do you know what is true or false? We’ve put together...

The Glass is Half-Full: Seeing the Upside to ADHD with Rice Psychology Group

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on July 13, 2023 at 9:18 PM /

ADHD

Do you see life through a slightly different lens? I, Dr. Wendy Rice, surely do. I’d like to share a little story with you that some of our ADHD friends may be able to relate to. In an attempt to save my furniture, I recently ordered some new cat toys and scratchers. Then I realized that the oldies were true favorites and just needed some rehabbing. So I found some string and small cat toys that mostly just end up lost and rigged these oldies but goodies back into front-line irresistible entertainment centers! Maybe not exactly how I had planned to spend...

Social Trouble: The School Year, Social Anxiety, and How our Therapists in Tampa Can Help

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on July 6, 2023 at 11:46 AM /

The school year is up and running, the kids are busier, and everyone is working hard to do their best. However, there’s something your kids may be dealing with that can sometimes either go unnoticed or they try to hide. Social anxiety. Did you ever freeze up while speaking to the rest of the class when you were a kid? Did lunchtime in the cafeteria freak you out? Did you try to hide when teachers asked for volunteers? At its mildest, social anxiety can be stressful and exhausting. At its worst, it can keep kids out of school and prevent them from making...

Tips on Coping with Unsteady Relationships on Mother’s Day

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on May 9, 2023 at 8:32 AM /

Mother’s Day is special to many of us. Our sweet and loving moms will be pampered and shown how grateful we are for everything they’ve done with some flowers and perhaps a bit of “me” time to break away from their motherly duties – if only for a day. In a perfect world, Mother’s Day passes without a single problem, but what is this day of celebration like for someone who doesn’t have a good relationship with their mother or mother figure? Should this day be a catalyst for fixing the relationship? If so, what steps would you take to get...