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

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...

Change Your Negative Self-Talk Into Positive Reinforcement by Celebrating Your Successes!

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on July 12, 2017 at 10:00 AM /

“Authenticity” is one of those buzzwords that we hear a lot in the media and in publications. With this topic, many are talking about how to be more authentic in their personal and professional lives. This week, I wanted to talk a little bit about being authentic with yourself. It’s all about identifying the person that you are inside and being true to who he or she is without worrying what the world expects you to be. We have a habit of sending ourselves negative messages every day when thinking about certain things in our lives. It’s time to get above...

Parenting: Doing the Best You Can at the Toughest Job on Earth

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on June 29, 2017 at 2:08 PM /

Consider the following story as it relates to this week's piece. Becoming a parent was one of the most joyous moments of my life. And how could it not be? Being a dad was always one of my biggest dreams, so I wanted to make sure I was good at it. Before my daughter arrived, I tried mapping out what I would do in certain situations; I wanted to be prepared. Unfortunately, I discovered that parenting required quick, often split-second decisions, and sometimes I was scared out of my mind! Sometimes, when I least expect it, I doubt my own abilities...

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,...

What You Should Know About Cognitive Processing Disorders

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on June 7, 2017 at 12:00 PM /

Consider the following story as it relates to this week's piece. I always had a feeling that Jennifer would be a great student. I mean, she’s always running errands for her teachers and has friends in all of her classes. Yesterday, though, I got a call from her math teacher that has me worried sick. Apparently, Jennifer often has trouble with directions and seems to forget instructions immediately after they’re given. On top of that, she’s always distracted, always needs to be redirected to her work and needs more time than others to complete her assignments. I never thought my little...

Boredom: How a Lack of Anything to do Isn’t a Bad Thing for Your Kids

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on May 31, 2017 at 7:54 PM /

Consider the following story as it relates to this week's piece. My oldest son Christopher is absolutely ecstatic that there’s only a week left in the school year before summer break. For months he’s been counting down the days when he can just take it easy and relax. I suggested to him that maybe he should consider attending summer camp like he has over the past few years. He immediately shrugged it off and said he never really liked it and that the only reason he attended was because I thought it was a good idea for him. This made me...

Terror Close to Home: How to Help Your Child Cope with Frightening Events

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on May 24, 2017 at 8:06 PM /

Consider the following story as it relates to this week's piece. My daughter Chelsea has been distraught all day over the incident that happened at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. Although we’re far away from where it happened, she’s been devastated to learn that something so horrifying can happen during such a fun event. It got me thinking, if something like this were to hit closer to home, how would I help my kids deal with it? Is there anything I can do to help them overcome such a horrible ordeal if one were to ever happen? Like many people...

Teen Suicide: How to Talk About it with Your Child and What to Look Out For

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on May 22, 2017 at 8:13 PM /

Consider the following story as it relates to this week's piece. I cannot believe that I am even writing this, but last week I found out that one of my son’s classmates committed suicide. They weren’t particularly close, but I could see that Anthony was very upset about it. After all, he’s only fifteen. Of course, I know that there’s a period of grief after someone’s death, but the idea of talking to my own son to help him process or understand why his classmate might have killed himself is beyond me. It’s such an important and sensitive subject, and I...

Learning to Build and Maintain Healthy Adult Mother/Daughter Relationships

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on May 11, 2017 at 1:46 PM /

Consider the following story as it relates to this week's piece. When you think about your relationship with your mother, does it make you smile and feel good inside or do you get a knot in your stomach and start to clench your fists? To the moms, when you think of your daughter, do you feel proud and grateful or do you get angry and think about how your daughter never listens to your advice and generally makes the wrong decisions? Relationships with our mothers can be quite tricky and complex, and we all handle them in different ways. Some daughters have...

FOMO: Don’t be Afraid to Miss Out

By Dr. Wendy Rice

on May 3, 2017 at 4:49 PM /

Blog

Consider the following story as it relates to this week's piece. Erika came home yesterday looking as if something was bothering her to the point of crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said her friend, whom she hadn’t seen in a few months, had just posted a new status on her Instagram. Apparently she had been accepted to NYU and was having a blast planning for New York and collecting everything with NYU on it that she could get her hands on. Erika’s first reaction was to compare her accomplishments with her friend’s. Since she had to start...