Margery Fridstein, MA, LPC, offers tips on effectively talking to your kids about sex
Margery Fridstein, MA, LPC, offers tips on effectively talking to your kids about sex
By Margery Fridstein, psychotherapist/ genConnect.com
Parents need to talk to their kids about sex. And they need to do it at a much earlier age than their parents talked to them.
I find that kids – some as young as 7 – who come to my office have no hesitancy in talking about sexual topics that they have picked up from their parents, their older siblings or the media.
What's the Best Kept Secret of Divorce?
As a therapist with over fifteen years experience, I hear a lot about divorce, particularly divorces where children are involved. While most of what I hear relates to the trauma and pain of divorcing, I have noticed a surprising sentiment among many divorces: people secretly like their time off from parenting.
A newly divorced client in her forties puts it this way:
What do you do when your very public husband is caught cheating?
What do you do when your very public husband is caught cheating?
It’s in the news, the Internet, the radio and every source you hear or see right now. Powerful men acting like “Pigs” as Nancy Gibbs so eloquently wrote in her recent article in Time (no offense to the four- legged ones). When I read or see these reports my mind asks many questions. Who are these women cheating with these men, and what is wrong with them? But more curious to me is how a woman decides whether to leave or stay?
At Mars Venus Coaching we believe that learning comes in waves, of about eight years—at least it’s so for me. So, when I talk to soon-to-be high school graduates, I often ask myself what I wished I knew then, that I know now. As parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors, or mentors—what wisdom can we give that will be: (1) heard and (2) taken to heart?
Do teens feel better after they have sex? It depends, are you asking boys or girls? Surprise results
Do teens feel better after they have sex? It depends, are you asking boys or girls? Surprise results
How you feel about losing your virginity depends… are you a guy or girl?
The morning after can be difficult no matter if you are a guy or a girl, but it seems to be more difficult for girls than guys. A study from researchers at Pennsylvania State University reports male university students' body images improved after having sexual intercourse for the first time, while the opposite pattern was found with females.
As a stepmother on Mother's Day, I questioned my role in my stepson's life.
As a stepmom, I find Mother’s Day to be a mixed bag, especially since I haven’t been one all that long. I never know how to handle the holiday when it comes around. I get Mother's Day greetings from friends and family, but I always feel a little conflicted and don’t know how to receive these compliments graciously. I can’t get over the idea that I’m not a "real" mom, even if I play the part of one day to day.
The Mars Venus Coaching Workshop: Children are From Heaven, tells us that children are a gift. But with school letting out for summer in just a matter of weeks, some parents might beg to differ. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the time you are responsible for filling with fun, structure, and learning opportunities for your kids? Even though summer is a fun time for the beach, pool, and family vacations—as parents we also have to make sure our stress levels stay low so we can keep our cool with our kids.
Add up how many hours a week you are engaged with your kids without a video, TV, computer or hand held screen blaring back at you. Is it even an hour? If so, now is the time to unplug and reconnect. The experts have been looking into the impact of all that screen time on children. The latest research contains a big message for parents, and an easy solution, too.
When "boys will be boys" keeps us from seeing real problems in our sons. A guide for getting help.
There's nothing more beautiful to me than a little boy's exuberance. But as the mother of two now grown sons I still get the chills thinking about living with and attempting to keep both of them alive and on track from age 14 to (if I'm honest) 21. One question that bedevils parents dealing with a child or teenager's chronically bad and/or alienated, depressed behavior is how to know whether he'll simply "grow out of it." The answer is probably yes, most do.
Family therapist, author & parenting expert Susan Stiffelman talks about this difficult conversation
Apart from parents who have taken extraordinary measures to isolate themselves from the world, there probably isn't a child alive who hasn't heard about the death of Osama bin Laden. Most of our kids know that killing is "bad"; the very fabric of our society is built upon the notion that it is wrong to kill another human being. So the celebration of this man's death certainly has the potential to generate confusion in our children. Here are some thoughts about how to handle the inevitable questions from curious kids about bin Laden's death.
