Why Asking for Help is a Sign of Strength

on January 14, 2016 at 8:02 PM /

Last week, I met with one of my best friends to do a bit of catching up. She knows I’ve been on the hunt for a job for months now and offered to send my CV to a few of her contacts. At this point, I’m desperate for anything and know I should have accepted…but still I politely declined her help. I’m just afraid to overstep our friendship and I’m even more scared of looking needy or weak. The truth is, I’m overwhelmed and have no idea what to do. Isn’t it ironic that most people refuse to ask for...

Keep Calm and Color On

By Rice Psychology Group

on November 1, 2015 at 6:48 PM /

By Elaine Spencer, Psy.D. Licensed Psychologist I walked into Michaels Craft store the other day and was pleasantly surprised to see the front display was advertising coloring books for adults and I thought to myself, “Wow! Coloring really is the new craze!” So What is This New Coloring Phenomenon All About? The simple answer is that coloring can actually be therapeutic. If you were like me as a child, you spent hours with your coloring books and your parents probably thought you enjoyed coloring because ‘that’s what kids do’. We now know that children are on to something because not only is coloring...

What To Do If “The Season” Is Getting You Down

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on December 3, 2014 at 1:34 PM /

By Wendy Rice, Psy.D. Licensed Psychologist Are you just not in the holly jolly spirit this December? If so, or if you know of someone who needs a bit of support, you’ve come to the right blog. We are here to help! If you are down about the season, it can be helpful to write down or at least really think about the things that are bothering you. It is often best to do it in a 2-column type format so that you can “respond” to each negative thought with something more neutral, realistic, or even positive. This is part of what...

How Parents Can Be the Ultimate Spoilsports

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on October 8, 2014 at 11:41 AM /

By Wendy Rice, Psy.D. Licensed Psychologist The Psychological wins and losses in competitive sports are pressure enough. But, are you as a parent supporting your child or transferring your desires onto them causing them to feel stress and disappointment? Are you the dad who is insulting the ref who made a bad call? Are you the mom who wants to tell your son’s coach a thing or two after the game about either over or underplaying your child? Maybe you are the horse show parent who coaches from outside the ring, interfering with what your child’s trainer is telling her to do. And, let’s hope...

Parent Report Card Preparation Tips

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on April 9, 2014 at 1:37 PM /

Find out how you can support your child and not freak out when it's time to read their report cards. If you are a parent, four times a year, pretty much without fail, the envelope arrives in the mail for you. As a child in New York, my parent’s got theirs in a thin, white envelope with green edges and a black dot-matrix print. You would fold the end and pull at the tab for the big reveal. Butterflies would ravage my stomach as my mother pulled that tab. For some families, report card time is as ominous as another winter or summer storm. ...

The Skinny on BMI Report Cards

By Rice Psychology Group

on January 21, 2014 at 9:52 PM /

Submitted by Dr. Steffanie Sperry Sally’s mother comes home from work and finds 9 –year-old Sally withdrawn and visibly upset. Upon questioning her daughter, she discovers that Sally had been given a BMI report card at school earlier that day. Sally tells her mother that she does not want to be ”fat”, and she wants to know what is wrong with her. She just wants to be like the other girls in her class that are in the “normal” range. Sally’s mother is taken aback and does not know what to say or how to respond to her daughter. There has been...