Research shows parents can feel pride in their children’s achievements, but living vicariously through a child can damage both child and parent.

Your Dreams on Hold: Are You Living Vicariously Through Your Child?

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Let’s be honest. Life can be disappointing. And for some people, that disappointment or frustration can push a person to try harder to achieve their dreams. But for some parents, they deal with those life disappointments by living vicariously through their children. We’re sure you’ve seen it; overbearing “wanna-be coach” dads and overdramatic stage moms. In 2013, a study was done to provide evidence that vicarious living both exists and has effects. Researchers found that parents can feel pride in their children’s achievements and even heal old wounds. When taken to extremes, however, living vicariously through a child can damage both the child and the parent.

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If you're a new mom, how can you take care of both yourself and your child, while tackling all the other responsibilities of your life?

Self-Care Checklist for New Moms

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There are a lot of nerves that can build when you are about to or have recently become a new mother. The postpartum phase is not the same for all moms. But most of the time, intense feelings of love can drive a new mom into her new role without much thought or effort. That is, until the exhaustion hits. Between lack of sleep and residual pain to new responsibilities and feeling overwhelmed, it’s hard to find time for yourself once baby arrives. How can you take care of both yourself and your child, while tackling all the other responsibilities of your life?

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It’s common to hear about parental self-care in regard to new parents. But teen parents also need to practice parental self-care.

Parental Self-Care: Teens

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A few weeks ago, we published a blog about the stress levels of teens. And while teens today are seriously stressed, many seem to forget that their parents are just as stressed. In 2014, the American Psychological Association ran a survey entitled Stress in America. This study found that parents who have a child under 18 at home reported higher stress levels than other adults, and they report doing less to manage their stress. Many parents are laser-focused on helping their kids create the best path they can in order to succeed in the future. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Not to mention easy to lose sight of who you are as an independent adult. It’s common to hear about parental self-care in regard to new parents. But teen parents also need to practice parental self-care.

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Fidget spinners have figuratively lost their momentum as a pop culture trend, there are still those who find the coping tool helpful.

Child Counseling: Do Fidget Spinners Actually Work?

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They were a craze that most parents and teachers were getting sick of. “Fidget spinners” are small, ball-bearing devices that the user can rotate between his or her fingers. While they were first marketed as a tool for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and autism, they are now banned in classrooms across the country. And while they have figuratively lost their momentum as a pop culture trend, there are still those who find the tool helpful.

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coping with a move

Coping with a Move

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Relocating to a new city or town is stressful. Even if the move means you’re doing well in life. Change is scary. Uprooting yourself from the familiar is never comfortable. And there can be a number of challenges when trying to adjust to this new chapter. You may ask yourself questions such as “How will I ever learn my way around or meet new people?”. Or even, “Did I make the right choice? Will I be miserable here?”. The good news is you aren’t alone in these emotions and feelings. And there are a number of ways you can begin coping with a move.

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child with depression

How to Parent a Child with Depression

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If you’re a parent, you may have noticed that your child’s emotions vary from day to day. Sometimes your child may seem happy-go-lucky without a care in the world. But the next, they are more reserved, isolated, and down. As a parent, this can be difficult to watch, as you only want your child to be happy and fulfilled in their life. As your kids get older and their problems become more complex. And you have to transition into more of a supporting role, which can be difficult. Depression in children is often undiagnosed and untreated. This is because symptoms are passed off as normal emotional and psychological changes that occur during the growth processes. The good news is that it’s getting easier to parent a child with depression because treatment is becoming more and more accessible.

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helpful books depression anxiety

Helpful Books: Life After Therapy

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Helpful Books. This month, we’ve been covering the topic of “Life After Therapy.” What can you do to ensure you use effective coping skills? How do you stay positive when life suddenly throws a new obstacle at you? Will you revert back to negative coping habits? Or will you remember your tool kit in your time of need? We know, this is a lot to wonder. And for some of you, may strike up a bit of anxiety. Whether you are recently (or not so recently) out of therapy or you know the end of your sessions is approaching, start thinking about the positive ways you can cope.

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parenting shame

Parenting Shame: Why Did I Have Kids Again?

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Have you ever felt parenting shame? Picture this. You’re sitting in the middle of the living room. On a floor with toys strewn about and yesterday’s Gold Fish Crackers crushed into the carpet. Your oldest is crying because your middle child won’t stop licking him. The baby just finished eating after crying since 2am. And then proceeds to vomit all over you. But that’s ok because you haven’t showered in 3 days anyhow.

You can’t remember the last time you saw your best friend. Adult conversation has become more than a perk. But it’s an ongoing, deep-rooted need that you can’t seem to find time for. Tears well up in your eyes. And the parenting shame fills your chest as you question every decision that lead to this moment.  “Why did I ever decide to have kids?!”

And then the oldest scoops the youngest up and tries to teach her his favorite game as your heart melts and a freight train of guilt slams into your gut.

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Counseling for Kids

Counseling for Kids: Social Anxiety

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The term “social anxiety” appears everywhere in today’s world. Many automatically associate the words with those that consider themselves introverts. Some refuse to even take the phrase seriously. But social anxiety isn’t simply the fear of interacting with other people. It’s actually characterized as an intense fear of social situations in which that person may be judged and criticized by others. Social anxiety disorders can truly disrupt a person’s life, especially that of a child. Continue reading as we discuss social anxiety counseling for kids.

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other postpartum symptoms

Other Postpartum Symptoms

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For the last two weeks, we’ve been discussing the postpartum disorders that arise once your baby is born. As much as we’d like to say that these issues don’t happen, these cases are becoming more and more prominent. Fortunately, women are becoming braver and braver in sharing their stories and reaching out for help. Two weeks ago we discussed the most common of those postpartum disorders, postpartum depression. Last week, we shifted gears into learning more about postpartum anxiety. This week, we want to take a deep dive into some of the other postpartum symptoms – those of which relate to postpartum PTSD, postpartum OCD, and postpartum psychosis.

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