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Welcome to Our Blog!

This blog is written by the clinicians at Jonah Green and Associates, a mental health practice based in Kensington, MD that provides quality services for children, teens, families, and adults. It is intended as a resource for families who are seeking to expand their knowledge about mental health and mental health services, and also as a resource for families who are seeking quality mental health services, especially in the mid-Atlantic region. Please feel free to post questions and comments on any of the entries as well as on any topics or articles from our companion web site www.childandfamilymentalhealth.com.

Taming the Parental Dragon: Getting Underneath Anger

 

We love our children dearly, and they also make us furious.  We may find ourselves angrier at the things our children do, whether they are two or seventeen, than we can remember feeling towards anyone else.  And yet we know that forcefully expressing this anger rarely helps a situation.   Feelings escalate, until everyone becomes more upset.  Not much learning takes place.  We tell ourselves over and over not to get mad, but sometimes the feelings well up and we feel helpless to our own explosion.  Yet the level of anger we experience is directly related to the depth of our love and concern for our children.

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Therapy for Relationships: More than Managing Conflict

 

Couples and family members who enter therapy to improve their relationships have usually endured long periods of harsh conflict.  Couples might be caught in repetitive cycles of criticism and defensiveness; parents and teens might be trapped in power struggles; siblings may find themselves in escalating rivalries.  Anguished to stop destructive arguments, people usually begin therapy focused on containing their conflicts.  Therapists can help clients to manage their conflicts by helping them engage in respectful communication focused on thoughts and feelings, and avoiding excessive blame, criticism, and stonewalling.  With improved communication, power struggles can become more manageable, and conflicts can more easily resolve.

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Transformational Dialogue: Guiding your Teen through Communication

In a previous post, I talked about adolescence as a time of transition for the entire family, especially the relationship between teens and their parents, and the important role that parenting has on later development. As a child moves into early adolescence (around 13-14 years), established routines between parent and child will shift and reorganize to accommodate the emerging identities for children and parents. A high degree of variability may exist in the way parents and children interact during this time, which may feel as though conflict has increased in its intensity and frequency, and may not show stability until late adolescence (around 17-18). It is important to remember that some degree of this conflict is expected, and as mentioned in my previous post, how parents approach their children is important during this developmental period. Because a certain level of conflict can be expected, we can prepare and support our teens’ transition through adolescence. One way of doing this is to engage in a healthy way to resolve conflict through communication.

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Parents and Dating: Talking to your Children about Parent Dating Relationships

Parental dating is a difficult topic for families after a divorce or death of a loved one. It takes time for both the parent and child to cope with the feelings associated with these transitions, and there often comes a time when a parent wants to start dating again. It is important to consider how new relationships will affect your child and what you can do to make it easier for them. Here are some tips for talking to your child about dating:

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ADHD and Divorce

We are pleased to present a guest post by Psychologist Judith Glasser, Ph.D., a local Psychologist with over 30 years of experience.  For Dr. Glasser’s bio, please scroll to the end of the post.

Life with a family member with ADHD can be stressful; wonderful in some ways, but stressful in others. People with ADHD often have a great deal of energy and enthusiasm for life.  However they also lose things, forget things and are impulsive and distractible. This combination of difficulties can lead to being late for events or forgetting to pick up a child at school. It can also mean that sometimes things get said in impulsive ways that would be better off not said. All of these kinds of behaviors can lead to hurt feelings.

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Jonah Green and Associates, LLC

Jonah Green and Associates, LLC is a highly regarded group of mental health clinicians who treat children, teens, and families with a variety of emotional, behavioral, and relationship concerns... read more
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