I sit here listening to the lyrics of a song my daughter wrote when she was 15, and it brings me right back: I’m floating away, seems my mind just won’t stay in my brain.It’s all just a haze and the ghosts overtake me, no escape … no escape. I’m going in circles … what…
Anytime I am working with the parents of adolescents, I am always excited to share insight about the pivotal concept of “counterwill” in the context of healthy development. Understanding this concept can make a tremendous difference in understanding our teenagers, especially when we feel confused or worried about their tendency to push back. First coined…
We are proud to share with you Dr. Deborah MacNamara’s address to the United Nations in New York for the Global Day of Parents, which she presented in June 2016. The digital age has reshaped the landscape in which we are raising our children. While our new tools and technologies allow us to do things…
When the roots are deep, we need not fear the wind. I’ve been thinking a lot about this saying, and what it means to me as the parent of two adolescent children. When it comes to our children, ‘the wind’ can take many forms in our lives, both real and imagined. Certainly, the kids and…
“Only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye” (The Little Prince) In a photographer’s studio in the town of Oaxaca, Mexico, the walls are full of pictures of children smiling, laughing, acting shy, angry or crying. When the owner is asked why he captures all of…
Spring is finally here in many parts of the world. It is a season of new growth, new possibilities, fresh hopes, and, for many species: a mating season! Nature comes alive with the sounds of mating calls, puffed-up chests, colourful plumage meant to attract a mate, hormones and pheromones floating in the air, and battles…
It is clear to me when I watch many popular programs geared to the adolescent population that there is a definite absence of parent in the lives of the characters. In some of the more popular programs, the teens are placed in boarding schools or the parents have either died or had to travel far…