Not everything I write is about me personally, but rather some is and some is about another mother who happened to get caught in well-meaning behaviors. As mother's we think we are helping, but sometime, and sometimes more than other times, we actually make things worse.
The reality hit me when I was lecturing to my Introduction to Psychology class about child development that some of the things which put kids at risk for later problems, were traces of what I had done myself. Later that evening my daughter came by for a short visit and literally yelled at me for helping her out.
My intentions were pure, well-meaning - but they backfired!
In this blog I hope to bring up controversial issues that no one wants to address but are long past due discussing. As a Developmental Psychologist and College Professor with 20 years of clinical experience, not much has slipped by my eyes and ears. Maybe together we can look at our mistakes and begin to repair the mess of things we've made in this country. Well-meaning mothers - we love our children too much. It's time we take at look at how we can love better, not more, but better.
I am a Psychology Professor at a small Liberal Arts College. My area of specialization is Developmental Psychology - mostly focused on children and families. In the past 20 years I have worked in residental, partial residential, private practice and community mental health centers as therapist, program manager, Executive Director, and advocate. These experiences allowed me to work within the "Systems" of our government, schools and courts. I spent nearly five years managing a treatment foster care program for delinquent and mentally ill adolescents, worked in substance abuse treatment centers and reunification of parents and children. It's been an eye opening life and let me tell you, it's not been pretty - but very educational.
During these years I was also able to work with kids with extreme special needs, from gifted and talented to autistic and developmentally delayed. Oh the stories I could tell - and I will, just to open the doors to begin the dialouge of change.
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