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“I Don’t See Color”: White Caregivers Raising BIPOC Children
In previous generations, the phrase “I don’t see color” was a mark of being progressive. Parents would use the phrase to explain why the differences of another person were not important when cultivating relationships. By telling children the color of a person does not matter, it also allows for parents and caregivers to avoid having…
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Teach Your Children Well
The 2020-2021 school year has officially ended at schools across the country, and we are heading into another season of mixed thoughts and emotions. Just as has been the case in the past year of the COVID pandemic, that will mean different things to different people and families. While we are eager to put the…
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One for the Yearbooks: A Time to Process the End of Another School Year in a Pandemic
We have arrived at the end of another school year in a pandemic. Many of the meaningful traditions we look forward to this time each year may once again not be possible. As many schools move to re-create significant events like graduations and proms in order to follow safety guidelines, they may look and feel…
Read MoreHelp for Young Adults with Autism and Their Families
Having been around autistic young people since my youngest son was born with the disorder nearly 20 years ago, I recently began conducting small social groups for young men with autism. Our goals are simple: to provide a safe space for young adults with social emotional deficits to gather weekly with each other, practice listening…
Read MoreKeeping College Admissions In Perspective
If you’re a senior in high school or the parent of a senior in high school, the end of March is more about college admissions than the beginning of spring. The recent college admissions scandal is just one example of how parents can become overwhelmed and over-involved in the lives and decisions of the high…
Read MoreHow to help your daughter find her voice
“Strong Voice, Full Heart” is a mother-daughter empowerment workshop organized through Council for Relationships’ Community Partnership Initiative (CPI). Dr. Sara Corse, Director of CPI, reflects on how mothers can empower their daughters to find their voice and embrace their power. Empowerment. It is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling your life…
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Yes, Your Teenager Wants to Talk to You About Porn
Kristine Seitz, M.Ed, MSW, LSW is a sexuality educator and Licensed Social Worker who specializes in providing therapy to adolescents, adults, and young adults experiencing anxiety, communication and intimacy issues, depression, grief and loss, infidelity, relationship issues, sexual abuse, sexuality concerns, and trauma. After reading New York Times Magazine’s article What Teenagers are Learning from Online…
Read MoreHow to Talk to Your Children about Public Catastrophes
This post was written by Kenneth Covelman, Ph.D., Director of Masters in Family Therapy Program, Council for Relationships and Thomas Jefferson University. It was originally published on the TJU blog and re-posted here with the author’s permission. In the age of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, our children are exposed to more and…
Read MoreWhy the Crisis of Teen Suicide Needs More Attention
We at Council for Relationships agree with Dr. Daniel Taylor’s article that ran in yesterday’s Philadelphia Inquirer. We appreciate all of the work that he and his colleagues at Drexel University School of Medicine and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children have done in this area, as well as the efforts of the City of Philadelphia’s…
Read MoreKindergarten Wall, A poem about children and stress
Children are amazing little seeds that will someday grow into wise and sturdy trees. Parents, teachers, and therapists are some of the most helpful resources and advocates for today’s children. With so much going on in the world, so many expectations in school, and abundant research on how childhood relationships shape young people long into…
Read MoreDepression: Fighting the Stigma
Two high school students recently wrote an article about their squashed efforts to bring mental health issues out into the open at their school. Their voice was heard by The New York Times, which both printed and published the article “Depressed, But Not Ashamed” online. The students’ opinion has sparked debate and support. Karyn Feit,…
Read MoreHow to Have an Effective Family Meeting
Our families are the foundations on which our children build their self-esteem and their mental and emotional health. The acceptance they experience and the love they see in their family’s eyes reflect an image for them as the young self develops. Having family meetings can be a way to solidify the family foundations that help…
Read MoreHow I get through my January Malaise
I sent my second college age daughter back to school last Sunday and I’m feeling SAD; you? Every year around this time, after the holiday fun and festivities, the extra boost of love and warmth from being surrounded by friends and family has ended, I feel down. I know it is a pretty common feeling,…
Read MoreBack-to-School Blues
Jeff Beers, LMFT is a former Staff Therapist at Council for Relationships. He now serves as Staff Therapist and Manager of Operations and Program Development at Menergy, an intervention, treatment, training and education program working to stop harmful behavior and intimate partner violence. Fall brings many changes to the lives of children and adolescents, and…
Read MoreMain Line Drug Ring: Youth Risk Taking Activities
Why do smart young people take risks and what can we do about it? Why would a group of young adults who seemed to have every thing take the risk of getting caught in the “Main Line Takeover Project”? If they had been distributing and selling sports gear, for instance, the young people involved would…
Read MoreKids and Abuse
Given recent reports of events on college campuses, sexually inappropriate behavior is at the forefront of many minds. As a psychologist who specializes in problematic and abusive sexual behavior, I work with both perpetrators and survivors, as well as their families. The damage done to survivors of sexual crimes is not limited to their sexual…
Read MoreComing of Age
There is a time in our children’s lives when their separation from us is not only inevitable, but also sanctioned by society. The coming of age rituals observed by many cultures and religious groups are a public acknowledgement of the emotional differentiation that our children have been working towards throughout their childhood and of their…
Read MoreThe Challenge and Hope of Reunification Therapy
Priscilla Singleton, MSW, LMFT, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and a marriage and family therapist. Ms. Singleton’s areas of expertise are separating and divorcing families, adoption, promotion of child and adolescent connection in their families, children of divorce, and co-parent counseling. Ms. Singleton has been in practice for over 25 years. Sometimes a parent can…
Read MoreParenting and the Teenage Years: A Parent’s Survival Guide
As parents, we try hard to understand our teenagers, but oftentimes we seem at a loss and it can be very stressful. Parenting is a difficult job in the best of circumstances. If you add to that a child who is experiencing some extra problems, you might feel especially helpless and hopeless. We try to…
Read MoreBipolar Disorder: Dispelling the Fears
During a recent conversation with colleagues we were struck by the way in which we have begun to think about those clients who are very sensitive to their environments as having a place on the continuum of bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorder has an underlying chemical and behavioral footprint that helps us make better sense of…
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