Dos and Don'ts: Meal Time Conversations with Someone with an Eating Disorder

If your child is struggling with an eating disorder or working through their recovery journey, you may have noticed that meal times can be a huge stressor. People recovering from eating disorders have to directly challenge their disordered thoughts and feelings several times a day during every meal. This can be especially difficult for kids and teens. Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid it; we need to eat in order to survive. However as a parent, you can make meal time a bit easier for your child. You can create a nurturing environment for recovery while helping your child build distress tolerance. Here are some do’s and don’t’s for meal time…

What To Do When You're Not Getting What You Need From Therapy

Have you ever felt stuck in a therapy session? Have you felt like you weren’t getting what you need or wanted? This is NORMAL and this is okay. If it happens once in a blue moon, it may not be a problem. But if it’s occurring more and more often, then it’s important to address it head-on. What can you do to figure out what’s going on and what you can do to get what you need from therapy? We’ll walk you through it…

My Child Says They Are Gay - What Do I Do?

If your child comes to you to have a conversation about them being gay or queer, it can be tempting to think of this as just a phase—something that is a growing fad as we see more and more teenagers coming out as queer nowadays. However, most likely this isn’t a phase; this is likely the beginning of the process of your child figuring out their identity. According to a study at William’s Institute, about 9.5% of youth in America, or roughly 1,994,000 teenagers from ages 13 to 17, identify as LGBTQ+. It’s likely that your teen is going to have a friend who is part of the LGBTQ+ community or that they will identify as part of it themselves. Fortunately, the world is a more accepting place than it was just a decade ago, and this can allow LGBTQ+ youth to feel more comfortable identifying as queer. Here are some parenting tips to help you be supportive of your newly out or questioning teen….

Are You a Good Listener?

We’ve heard the question “Are you listening?” many times since childhood. But what does that mean exactly? What makes a person a good listener and why is it important? Effective listening isn’t just hearing and receiving auditory information. It’s a practiced skill that can strengthen and deepen your relationships. Whether it be applied to work or while at home, being a good listener is a helpful skill when trying to resolve conflicts, strengthen empathy, and build connections with others. Good listening skills boost positive interactions with others, leading to a better overall well-being. Here are some tips…

Acknowledging Preferred Pronouns

We see it more commonly in social media, on email signatures and on Zoom calls: A person introduces themselves with their name, followed by their preferred pronoun. There are so many, like she/her, he/him, and they/them pronouns, among others. What do all of these pronouns mean, exactly? And why are preferred pronouns so important?

Gender Identity, Gender Fluidity, Helpful tipsKathy Hui, MSWNovember 10, 2021pronouns, gender, equality, LGBTQ+, relationships, conversation

Helpful Tips