Communication Problems in Families

Conversations and bonding moments between family members are often the first most formative moments of communication we experience. Since much of our childhood involves spending time with our parents, siblings, or other family members, it means our time with them helps determine how we communicate with everyone else.

Unfortunately, family communication problems can hinder children’s development and ability to connect and work with others as adults. This is why it’s essential to recognize how communication problems happen at home and what you can do to address them read more here

Suicide Prevention

Did you know that suicide is the second leading cause of death for youths between the ages of 15 and 29? According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are 800,000 suicides yearly. That’s one person taking his/her life every 40 seconds. Furthermore, for every one of those, there are 20 other suicide attempts.

I became passionate about the subject early in my career, as I was once a troubled teen myself. I committed myself to saving at least one person from making a desperate decision after I experienced the suicide of one of my Grade 11 students when I was teaching Social Science and Psychology.

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World Day Against Trafficking

When I first returned to my homeland of Canada two and a half years ago, I was hired as frontline staff in a privately-run group home and was assigned to “Amy”. I was eager to get back to one-on-one work with young women in the hope of guiding them toward empowerment and personal growth.

                              

I had no idea that I would be facing a seventeen-year-old’s trauma of being trafficked for sex within the GTA — and worse still, that she had been a victim of that lucrative industry since she was thirteen years old. Read More Here…

How to Get Through a Contentious Divorce

Going through a contentious divorce is likely to add stress and anxiety to your life. In all likelihood your marriage was already contentious before you filed for divorce. It is understandable that you might feel unfocused, exhausted, tired, angry, upset, depressed, and a whole host of other feelings that negatively impact your life in a variety of ways.

                            


You might also find yourself questioning your ability to make sound decisions for yourself and your children. How do you re-ground yourself when you feel like things are out of control? Read more here...

4 Ways to Prevent Drug Addiction in your Family By Dan Watterworth

It would be nice if there was a way for a parent to know with 100% certainty that their child is not going to get involved in drug or alcohol abuse.  At the end of the day there is no guarantee that your child or teen won’t experiment with drugs or other addictive behaviors, but in this blog post I have identified some characteristics of families that are contributing factors to family members becoming prone to addiction.  It is definitely important to teach them to say “no” to drugs and the various reasons for declining to take drugs, but I have outlined here the kind of environment to create in your family in order to lessen the odds of your kids getting hooked on drugs or other destructive behaviors.

1. Help your kids express and manage their emotions.

If a teen does not have the skills to manage their own emotions when they try drugs for the first time it can be easier for them to become hooked than for a person who can manage their emotions well.  For example, if your child struggles with anxiety, drinking or drugs may seem to them like a great way to cope at the time.  Families where certain emotions aren’t allowed to be expressed or only certain people can express those emotions have children that are looking for either an outlet for those emotions or a way of managing them.

Read More Here.