Columns
Dr Mike, Our 18-year-old daughter who is a senior in high school, is addicted to her phone, and we don’t know what to do. The phone is always in her hand, and even though my husband and I don’t disapprove of most of what she’s doing with the phone, we also think she’s on it…
Read more...By Tim Jon I was so anxious to explore this place, I arrived long before sunrise and forced myself to wait in my car until I could at least justify the camera in my pocket; I’d made the discovery – just a few days before my visit – of a new ‘sleeping giant’ of a…
Read more...By Tim Jon I am not one to dwell in the past; in the performance of my six-day-a-week job, my colleagues and I generally work at such a frantic pace that we joke about forgetting our own names. That’s not as far from the truth as you might guess, what with mail carriers expected to…
Read more...By Michael Oberschneider, Psy.D. There is certainly a lot written on the Empty Nest Syndrome – the period of grief that many parents feel after their grown child leaves home – but there are far fewer articles on how parents can best navigate their pre-teen or teen’s journey toward independence while still living at home.…
Read more...By Tim Jon Next time I stop in, I want to hear the birds sing, as I took an early morning stroll around the land set aside as the Burial Ground for the Enslaved at Belmont. I found the silence broken only by the nearby traffic on Route Seven – with the motorists – understandably…
Read more...By Michael Obschneider, Psy. D. Divorce is an inherently tumultuous life event that significantly impacts the emotional well-being of all those involved. And, the approach to divorce can greatly influence the outcome, with collaborative divorce offering a less adversarial alternative to traditional litigation. This method, focusing on negotiation and mutual agreement outside of court, holds…
Read more...By Tim Jon The place appeared to be sleeping, the last time I visited. And that was fine, as I’d driven from my home in Leesburg that morning – coming up through the Town of Middleburg and then on a series of unpaved roads – passing through the small community of Bloomfield on the way.…
Read more...By Michael Oberschneider, Psy.D. Dr. Mike: Our 16-year-old son is having a really hard time academically. He gets the occasional A, a lot of B’s and some C’s, and he doesn’t apply himself at all. His grades are all over the place, and we never see him doing homework. With grade inflation within LCPS, we’re…
Read more...By Tim Jon Complete isolation, peace and quiet can be quite rare commodities these days in the thriving Northern Virginia County of Loudoun, but these conditions prevailed on my first-ever drive down the entire length of today’s subject of discovery. The relative tranquility I found fought for attention, though, with the general rural nature of…
Read more...By Michael Oberschneider, Psy.D. Technology is ubiquitous, and as a result, our children are constantly being bombarded with information. Certainly, we as parents can do our best to make sure that the information our children view is age-appropriate, however, sometimes that’s not enough or sometimes the stories our children learn about are confusing and upsetting.…
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