If I Had a Child Who Failed to Launch

I know someone whose child is finishing his senior year in high school with a 1.5 GPA. He has “learning differences” including “poor executive functioning” and is doing lots of drugs. The parent has decided to send him to a wilderness residential school for drug-abusing kids in hopes “that will better prepare him for college.”

If I were his parent, I'd do something quite different. My PsychologyToday.com article today explains what I'd do.

Why I Think Corporations are Better Than Nonprofits

How I'd Practice School Psychology

It’s been a long time since I’ve been a school psychologist, and my conversations with current ones indicate that the field has changed some, but I sense that school psychologists still might benefit from my viewing the profession with fresh eyes.

My PsychologyToday.com article today offers some thoughts on how I’d practice school psychology. They embed principles for how others might choose to practice.

How a Sad Person (Me) Keeps My Sadness Under Control

'How Am I Going to Get Through the Day" Advice for the overwhelmed

I can’t myself out of bed. It's hard even to think about everything I have to do:. Ugh: Get dressed—I’ll skip the shower. Sit in the gridlock; I can’t stand it. And mass transit takes much longer still, as I smell the B.O. of the other sardines on the train who didn’t shower.
Then I’ll sit there, pushing paper, covering my ass, smiling at those phonies, so I can keep the records for this non-profit, no different than keeping the records for that widget company I worked for before. Whether they donate to us or the other charity, buy our widget or the competitors, BFD. Then I have to deal with the kids, help make dinner, help with the homework .Clean up. Uuhhhhhh.

The reverie is broken by the kids busting in:

I’m hungry
How come you’re not up, again!
What should I wear? 
That’s my toy!
Anthony is hitting me!
Where’s my lunch! It’s late.
You gotta drive us to school! Dad had to leave for work early!”

With the kids there, you manage to resist doing what you want to do: pull the covers over your head,. You murmur, “In a minute.”
Of course, many people can't even imagine feeling that way, but it's more common than you may  think. As always, there are no pat answers but perhaps one of more of the ideas I offer in my PsychologyToday.com article today might help:

The Big Decisions: education, career, marriage, kids.

My PsychologyToday.com article today offers some thoughts on six of life's major decisions, regarding education, career, marriage, and children.

What to Ask About: A checklist for psychotherapists and counselors

Every two weeks, a psychotherapist consults with me about his practice. Today, he asked me,

I have a client who keeps coming back and every session says everything’s fine. He comes back because he likes reporting on what happened that week and telling me his plans for next week. I feel okay about continuing to take his money but I’m bored just listening to him and am wondering if there’s a way to add more value. Do you have any suggestions?

I asked if he had queried the client about a wide-enough range of life’s aspects that might unearth a fertile area for exploration. The therapist asked me if I had a list of such aspects. When I gave him one, he suggested that other therapists and counselors might benefit from seeing it, so I provided it as my PsychologyToday.com contribution today.