"An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure"
Dear Parents,
Sailors do it the old and traditional way. They are more interested in enjoying the voyage than simply looking forward to reaching their destination. This is a great lesson for our parenting years, and life in general!
Though I did my best to enjoy my parenting years, I often find myself wishing that I would have taken even more time to appreciate and enjoy my my time with our young children and adolescents.
There is yet another lesson for parents, straight from our sailing heritage. Sailing a sailboat can be a wonderful, relaxing, and fulfilling experience. It can also have its times of danger, fear, and anxiety. Sailors are taught to "reef", or reduce their sails, at the first signs of a big blow, or a storm. It is unnecessarily hazardous to wait until the ship is in a big storm to go on deck and attempt to get the sails under control.
In all things, prevention is the best policy.
A very long time ago, I learned that helping parents who's children were showing psychological/behavioral problems normally worked best when when the children were young and/or, the problems were early in their development.
After over 30 years of psychological practice, I can tell you that this observation still holds true and I now consider it to be a very important Principle of Psychological treatment.
There is no reason for high anxiety. Developing children are constantly changing, as is their behavior patterns. Enjoy the process!
However, if emotional or behavioral problems appear to be emerging, monitor the situation carefully. If the difficulty continues for several weeks, or appears to be getting worse be sure to check with your pediatrician or family doctor. It is very important to rule-out any medical problems and get a professional opinion regarding the seriousness of your child's developmental problem.
If your concerns are validated, or if you still have uneasiness about your child's emotions or behaviors, do not be hesitant to consult a Licensed Child Psychologist in your State. It will be especially beneficial if this professional is skilled in Behavior Modification methods with children. The knowledge you will gain can give you confidence and help you to prevent the development of more serious problems in your child.
Remember to "reef "early! "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".
Dr. Tom
11/18/09
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
You Are Invited!
You Are Invited!
Dear Friends,
I hope you will visit my other blog site, http://www.culturalsurvivalskills.com/
The reason I have two blogs is that each has its distinct purpose. As a professor, I studied and taught about how to help individuals and families with psychological problems. I also studied, and taught about the various things that sociocultures have done that strengthen or weaken their own ability to survive long and well.
The purpose of the blog you are now on, http://www.lifecopingskills.com/ is to address the many things that we must do, or prevent from happening, in order to live our individual lives well: To have and maintain relationships with other individuals in our lives, to maintain our families, raise our children, and to care for ourselves and our loved one's psychological health and welfare.
The purpose of culturalsuvivalskills is to address the things that we must know and do, or prevent from happening, to strengthen America's psychological health and its ability to survive very long and very well. Yes, besides caring for ourselves and our loved ones, we must also care for our American Society. We may not think of it often, but our American Socioculture is the influential context in which we work to care for ourselves and our loved ones.
If the Socioculture in which we live is increasingly emotionally disturbed, destructive of its families and children, and its behavior is confused and maladaptive, that will spell disaster for all of us and our loved ones.
I am convinced that our American Socioculture is in decline. I think that many of the reasons for this decline have to do with our abandoning values and principles that made us great. These values and principles involve Judeo Christian rules for living life and other practices that generally conformed to science-based principles of psychology, economics and other sciences.
If you visit, culturalsurvivalskills.com you will come to understand my many concerns. Sociocultural evolution is in part a political process, so political matters are more frequently discussed there. Most of my suggestions and views are conservative but a few will be judged to be liberal. This is because it is clear to me that both parties are failing to care for our America Socioculture as they should. My friends are of all political persuasions.
At lifecopingskills.com, my focus will normally not be on political matters or America's sociocultural health. As in my private practice, my political views and those of my clients do not matter. Like in my psychological practice, here we will focus upon the quality of our individual lives and what we need to do to help ourselves and our loved ones to live very well and happily.
God's Blessings to you and your loved ones.
Dr. Tom
11/17/09
Dear Friends,
I hope you will visit my other blog site, http://www.culturalsurvivalskills.com/
The reason I have two blogs is that each has its distinct purpose. As a professor, I studied and taught about how to help individuals and families with psychological problems. I also studied, and taught about the various things that sociocultures have done that strengthen or weaken their own ability to survive long and well.
The purpose of the blog you are now on, http://www.lifecopingskills.com/ is to address the many things that we must do, or prevent from happening, in order to live our individual lives well: To have and maintain relationships with other individuals in our lives, to maintain our families, raise our children, and to care for ourselves and our loved one's psychological health and welfare.
The purpose of culturalsuvivalskills is to address the things that we must know and do, or prevent from happening, to strengthen America's psychological health and its ability to survive very long and very well. Yes, besides caring for ourselves and our loved ones, we must also care for our American Society. We may not think of it often, but our American Socioculture is the influential context in which we work to care for ourselves and our loved ones.
If the Socioculture in which we live is increasingly emotionally disturbed, destructive of its families and children, and its behavior is confused and maladaptive, that will spell disaster for all of us and our loved ones.
I am convinced that our American Socioculture is in decline. I think that many of the reasons for this decline have to do with our abandoning values and principles that made us great. These values and principles involve Judeo Christian rules for living life and other practices that generally conformed to science-based principles of psychology, economics and other sciences.
If you visit, culturalsurvivalskills.com you will come to understand my many concerns. Sociocultural evolution is in part a political process, so political matters are more frequently discussed there. Most of my suggestions and views are conservative but a few will be judged to be liberal. This is because it is clear to me that both parties are failing to care for our America Socioculture as they should. My friends are of all political persuasions.
At lifecopingskills.com, my focus will normally not be on political matters or America's sociocultural health. As in my private practice, my political views and those of my clients do not matter. Like in my psychological practice, here we will focus upon the quality of our individual lives and what we need to do to help ourselves and our loved ones to live very well and happily.
God's Blessings to you and your loved ones.
Dr. Tom
11/17/09
Monday, November 16, 2009
Dear Reader,
My mission statement can be found on my lifecopingskills web site, but it is good to repeat it here, at the very beginning of my blog site.
If you are seeking advice on life's challenges, it is good to know how your advisor comes by his or her advice. No one has perfect knowledge, but there is much we can do to learn better ways to manage our personal emotional/psychological affairs, that will most likely bring rewarding outcomes in the long-run.
The following describes my value system and what I hope to achieve with my blogs.
I am dedicated to discovering the truth about the forces that shape our behavior for good and for bad. In this pursuit, I greatly respect the wisdom of the ages brought to us through the religions of the world, the great philosophers through history, and the findings of modern science. I also respect the many findings from my own life's experiences and that of my family and friends.
When the weight of all of these sources of information are in agreement, I am particularly impressed. Should my personal experiences and/or science reliably demonstrate that my beliefs, so derived may be false, I will make the appropriate changes necessary. Until then, I will strive to make all important decisions in my life, and similar recommendations to others, based upon this rational process.
As a psychologist, I will pray that I might benefit my clients, loved ones, friends and others in America and elsewhere by sharing what I have learned works well in life.
I am dedicated to strengthening good and beneficial thoughts and behavior in myself and all others who wish to join me in this effective life-coping-skills quest.
My blogs, to follow, will be comprised of many topics. Some will relate to solving particular problems, others will be primarily informational. I will speak to matters of family, children, and and adolescents. I will also try to address the many concerns and issues that arise as we live our lives among our adult loved ones, friends, or work peers and supervisors.
At times my blogs may be thematic, or they may deal with some concerns that are on my mind on any particular day.
If you are seeking in-depth written materials about meeting various life's challenges, please visit my web page and consider the manuals that are listed there and available for purchase at a very reasonable price. I have started with a manual on the use of Time-Outs, and other methods of teaching good behavior to children. Other manuals will follow in the weeks to come.
Also, I hope you will tell me the challenges and issues that you would personally like to see addressed in the future. Please feel welcome to Email topic requests to me, or leave your comments in my blog page. I will do my best to respond to them in a timely manner.
God's Blessings to you and your loved ones,
Dr. Tom
V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.
Health Services Provider in Psychology, HSPP 20090171A
Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Indiana University South Bend
My mission statement can be found on my lifecopingskills web site, but it is good to repeat it here, at the very beginning of my blog site.
If you are seeking advice on life's challenges, it is good to know how your advisor comes by his or her advice. No one has perfect knowledge, but there is much we can do to learn better ways to manage our personal emotional/psychological affairs, that will most likely bring rewarding outcomes in the long-run.
The following describes my value system and what I hope to achieve with my blogs.
I am dedicated to discovering the truth about the forces that shape our behavior for good and for bad. In this pursuit, I greatly respect the wisdom of the ages brought to us through the religions of the world, the great philosophers through history, and the findings of modern science. I also respect the many findings from my own life's experiences and that of my family and friends.
When the weight of all of these sources of information are in agreement, I am particularly impressed. Should my personal experiences and/or science reliably demonstrate that my beliefs, so derived may be false, I will make the appropriate changes necessary. Until then, I will strive to make all important decisions in my life, and similar recommendations to others, based upon this rational process.
As a psychologist, I will pray that I might benefit my clients, loved ones, friends and others in America and elsewhere by sharing what I have learned works well in life.
I am dedicated to strengthening good and beneficial thoughts and behavior in myself and all others who wish to join me in this effective life-coping-skills quest.
My blogs, to follow, will be comprised of many topics. Some will relate to solving particular problems, others will be primarily informational. I will speak to matters of family, children, and and adolescents. I will also try to address the many concerns and issues that arise as we live our lives among our adult loved ones, friends, or work peers and supervisors.
At times my blogs may be thematic, or they may deal with some concerns that are on my mind on any particular day.
If you are seeking in-depth written materials about meeting various life's challenges, please visit my web page and consider the manuals that are listed there and available for purchase at a very reasonable price. I have started with a manual on the use of Time-Outs, and other methods of teaching good behavior to children. Other manuals will follow in the weeks to come.
Also, I hope you will tell me the challenges and issues that you would personally like to see addressed in the future. Please feel welcome to Email topic requests to me, or leave your comments in my blog page. I will do my best to respond to them in a timely manner.
God's Blessings to you and your loved ones,
Dr. Tom
V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.
Health Services Provider in Psychology, HSPP 20090171A
Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Indiana University South Bend
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