Archive for October, 2007

Listed by most recent articles first.

• Finding a Reliable, Caring Babysitter
  A few years ago my office manager showed up late for work because her seventeen-month-old son's baby-sitter had canceled at the last minute. (She usually brought her infant daughter to work with her.) It was ...
• Toddlers and Preschoolers Who Bite
  For hours after the incident, I could still see the impressions of the other preschooler’s front teeth on the bridge of my four-year-old son’s nose. Apparently my son’s classmate had become very frustrated by something ...
• Harness the Power of Your Daydreams
  Far from being a waste of time, as we're often told, daydreaming can aid creativity and problem-solving and help you realize your potential. When your mind wanders from what you're doing, take a moment to reflect ...
• 15 Common Defense Mechanisms
  In some areas of psychology (especially in psychodynamic theory), psychologists talk about "defense mechanisms," or manners in which we behave or think in certain ways to better protect or "defend" ourselves. Defense mechanisms are one ...
• Women and Bipolar Disorder
  While bipolar disorder affects both men and women, how the disorder is experienced and treated in both genders varies greatly. Women, for example, tend to experience more of the "rapid cycling" type of bipolar ...
• Halloween Safety Tips for Parents
  If a visitor from outer space were observing our town during the last few days of October, I’m sure it would be ...
• The Scheduled Child
  Each fall when our kids were young, my husband and I would make an elaborate grid with each kid’s name (there are four of them) going down the left side and the days of the ...
• Capitalize on Your Core Strengths
  The key to fulfillment, life coaches believe, is to recognize and make the most of your "core strengths." If you figure out what you are best at, and take advantage of these skills, a rewarding ...
• Preventing Obesity in Children
  Researchers have found that an educational program designed to help children stop drinking soda has had no long-term impact on obesity. An estimated ten percent of children worldwide are overweight. Drinking sugared soda seems to ...
• Tips for Coping with Some of Life’s Problems
  As we grow older, we experience change in nearly every part of our lives. Negative life experiences can be stressful and this stress can affect our mental health. These experiences include: Bullying ...
• 10 Tips to Help Yourself
  Improving your mental and emotional health usually isn't just a matter of setting your mind to it. You need a roadmap and some ideas to help you get started. This article will provide you with ...
• Helping Someone Out with a Mental Health Issue
  You're worried about a friend or co-worker who seems to be acting more and more withdrawn, or not like themselves. You want to say something, but you're not sure what, if anything, would be appropriate. ...
• When a Child is a Picky Eater
  When it comes to food, young children are notoriously finicky. Many parents find that their preschooler's idea of a gastronomic delight is peanut butter and grape jelly on cheap, packaged white bread that has the ...
• When Parents Disagree on Discipline
  Any child who has spilled a glass of milk or tried to negotiate a later bedtime is aware of the subtle differences in her parents' styles of discipline. One parent is often a bit quicker ...
• What’s Your Baby’s Temperament?
  Days or even hours after their children are born, parents reach conclusions about their temperaments. They may describe their babies as fussy or easygoing, sensitive or curious. For years, pediatricians and psychologists paid little attention ...
• What is Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy?
  Functional optical brain imaging is more commonly known as a scientific research technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). This technique is a type of functional neuroimaging technology that offers a relatively non-invasive, safe, portable, and ...
• Neurofeedback Training for Your Brain
  Neurofeedback is a relatively new biofeedback technique that focuses on helping a person train themselves to directly affect brain function. Although it sounds like science-fiction in nature, it's actually a reputable and scientifically-proven technique practiced ...
• How Children Develop Empathy
  A 3-year-old who cries out, "Mommy! Look how big that man's nose is!" will probably be politely shushed by his mother and ignored by the man. An adult who makes an equivalent statement, however, might ...
• Tackling the Fears of the ‘Worried Well’
  It is estimated that millions of people in the U.S. suffer from imaginary illnesses, including a rise in recent years in food intolerances. Are we really a nation of hypochondriacs? The "worried well," it would ...
• Your Baby’s Developmental Milestones: Look for Stages, Not Ages
  Most books on child development include charts of some sort outlining the normal milestones that children reach as they grow older. Parents can look up the ages of their children and see what those children ...
• The Purpose of Baby Talk
  You've probably noticed how adults often talk differently to babies than to other adults or even toddlers. They raise the pitch of their voices and do other things we would consider inappropriate or insulting in ...
• Changing the Treatment Conversation
  Sometimes I'm afraid that the U.S. is becoming a nation of people who expect things to come easily to them. I'm doubly afraid that some professionals charged with helping to help ourselves often take the ...