As a person familiar with anxiety and all its ramifications I read Robin Marantz Henig‘s article “Understanding the Anxious Mind” in the New York Times with great interest. Henig primarily focuses on Jerome Kagan‘s longitudinal study beginning in 1989, which looked at whether babies were easily upset or not when exposed to new things. They [...]

There are so many wonderful things about Jennifer Kolari’s book “Connected Parenting” that I hardly know where to begin.

Kolari understands that even when parents feel despair, overwhelmed, angry or feel guilty because they no longer like their child, that these feelings are just a mask for fear and confusion. Kolari never blames parents who have lost their way and find themselves in a vortex of negativity.

Several years ago, I got into a car accident and totalled my car (ok, my mother’s car).  Thankfully, no one was hurt and the only injury I sustained was to my bank account, which was hit with a hefty fine for “following too close”.  The other driver was forgiving, my parents showed concern only for [...]

I felt a sadness and a quiet desperation when I read an article in parentcentral.ca by Joseph Hall called “Children Feel Weight of Body Image.” He discusses the tragic obsession about body image and weight in our youth. Nothing new except that the study under discussion looked at about 4,200 children from Nova Scotia and [...]

If it was possible to pass on just one piece of advice from the wisdom I have gained from parenting, it would be this: Embrace your child’s anxiety.

Many parents don’t do this because they hold two mistaken beliefs. First, they believe that it is their responsibility to make their child happy; and second, they believe that feelings of anxiety in their child means that they have failed somehow.

As the summer draws to a close, school feels like a distant memory to many children. Many focus on the unknown like their teachers, new children and curriculum. This can result in feelings of panic, anxiety and overwhelm. True, there are many new things that they must face but for most there is also much [...]

Anxiety and depression in adults and children continues to rise at an alarming rate. Many struggle just to make it through each day. And the reality is that life doesn’t get any easier. The stresses that we face are increasing and we need all our emotional strength to cope with them. How do we bolster [...]