I am a high school teacher. I serve on a committee that works with parents to encourage struggling students so they have a better chance to graduate, thus improving their later quality of life. I'd like to tell you about a recent meeting with 'Jane'... More >>

...In many of the cases where I have had to deal with students making poor grades, there were low test scores in their records. But, I have had many poor students who had higher scores. They were not applying themselves or had taken on too many responsibilities. More >>

Denise's son was ticketed for driving under the influence. He is on probation, gets drug-tested and must perform community service. She pays his rent. At what point should Denise tell him he's on his own? More >>

Our son received a D.U.I. early in the summer before going off to school. He just got his first job, has probation for several months and has to get drug tested each month. More >>

If I had to pick one phrase I've heard more than any other over the years (other than 'I don't know'), it'd be some variation of 'I didn't make a good decision.'...I don't think people who tend to make bad decisions are really stupid or uninformed...Bad decision-makers typically know they're making poor choices... More >>

I recently went to go see a movie (something I very rarely do), and I didn't bring my cell phone in with me. I then went to lunch, and again, left my phone in the car. For some reason, this freaked people out. More >>

Over the many, many years I've worked as a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice and on the air, I've done a lot of research on divorce, especially when it involves kids. The scientific literature differs very much from popular literature in what the happiness quotient is after a divorce. Scientific literature suggests that a good three quarters of people who divorce regret it. More >>

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post on my family blog after I had my son. I had spent those first few months adjusting to motherhood, largely in my pj's and sweatpants. I decided my husband had seen enough of me like that... More >>

Envy and jealousy affect everyone's life. However, what really matters is what we do when we feel jealousy or envy: How do we experience it? How do we cope with it? More >>

My 23 year old son graduated a year ago from college and now is unwilling to get a job!...He did get a grocery clerk job for a short time and lived on that plus money I had given him for school that he squandered. More >>