By Lauren Carpenter, Access Services Imagine this scenario: Your son is home from college for the weekend and he says he has something important to tell you. You take him out to lunch, and over the course of the meal, he tells you that he is gay. The moment he tells you, you may be … More »
Blog Posts Tagged ‘Relationships’
Are You Listening to Me?
By Joseph Honsberger, LCSW-C How is it that we sometimes feel unheard in our closest relationships? This is a common complaint of couples. Communication is extremely important to having a satisfying, intimate, long-term relationship. We often learn that it’s important to tell your partner how you feel or what you think, but we don’t hear … More »
Embracing the Empty Nest
By Mimi Kraus, LCSW-C Raising children, as we know, can be much more than a full-time job. It is often a 24-7 commitment, requiring all of a parent’s physical and emotional strength, wisdom, patience and perseverance. For at least eighteen years for each child, and often longer, you have organized your life around this all-consuming … More »
New Beginnings: Repairing Adult Sibling Relationships
By Joan Grayson Cohen, LCSW-C, Esq. One of the most quoted teachings in the Torah is: “You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against the members of your people; you shall love your fellow as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18). So if we are commanded not to take revenge or hold a … More »
How to Help Someone You Love Who is Diagnosed with Cancer
By Cynthia Kurlanzik, LCSW-C A diagnosis of cancer can be an overwhelming experience. Cancer patients tell us that, faced with that news for the first time, their world literally stops. They experience a myriad of feelings: anger, sadness, frustration, numbness, helplessness, fear, nothingness…. At such a trying time, support from friends and family is critical. … More »
The Gifts of Stories
Shelly Varon, LCSW-C Once upon a time….. So begin the journeys of our imagination and our life. And who doesn’t like a good story? Whether it’s a great work of literature or the latest soap opera, stories grab our attention and connect us with others. They can be fun to tell and hear (after … More »
Are You Touched By Domestic Abuse?
By Mimi Kraus, LCSW-C While domestic violence often makes headlines, it is frequently a hidden problem. Abuse may be going on right in your own neighborhood — or even in your own home. People are getting hurt. Can we do anything to stop it? Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any … More »
They’re Back: Young Adults Moving Home
By Erin Lewis About a third of Americans in their 20s live with their parents at least once. Often this happens during stressful times of transition — after college graduation, between jobs or apartments, after a relationship has ended. Of course, this can be stressful for parents, too, especially for those who expected to begin … More »
Don’t Let the Jerks Get You Down
By Lynn Feldman, LCSW-C We’re always talking about the really difficult people in the world — at work, the insurance company, government agencies, the grocery store, the pharmacy… THEY’RE EVERYWHERE. It’s true; there are lots of insensitive, ignorant, manipulative, untrustworthy, controlling, dishonest, mean, incompetent people running around out there. Sometimes we encounter them occasionally or … More »
When Your Child Is No Longer a Child
By Ruth Klein, Ph.D. The age of “emancipation.” So many of our children look forward to those “firsts”– the driver’s license, high school graduation, first apartment, first credit card — when they can be “liberated” from the burden of being under their parents’ rule and make decisions on their own. Yet somehow, in spite of … More »