Conversation Basics
Andrea Ramsay Speers
I think every parent wants to raise a polite child. Sometimes how that is defined varies from family to family, but overall, there are some things that we have as a culture [...]
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Is It Wrong To Ask For Help?
Andrea Ramsay Speers
We live in a culture that values independence. There’s a common belief that everyone can and should take care of themselves alone, pull themselves up by their bootstraps and [...]
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Skin Deep
Andrea Ramsay Speers
We’d all like to think that appearances don’t matter as much as what’s on the inside does. But if you haven’t heard, even researchers have to sadly admit that better looking [...]
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Fear of Being Away From Home
Andrea Ramsay Speers
Most of us are familiar with separation anxiety as it relates to infants and toddlers, but what do you do if your middle-school kid or teenager still has a fear of being away [...]
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Body Image and Teens
Andrea Ramsay Speers
A lot is made of the media’s obsession with thinness. And it’s true — the media is obsessed with the thin and the beautiful. But at the same time that we, [...]
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When Big Kids Cry Easily
Andrea Ramsay Speers
Some kids are just very sensitive. They cry easily and often, even over situations that others might not feel are such a big deal, and even as they pass the age where we [...]
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Meeting New Friends
Andrea Ramsay Speers
Switching schools or classes in the middle of the school year can be hard for younger kids, especially when they don’t know anyone in the new place yet. Work with the [...]
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Most Of Us Hear, Not All Of Us Listen
Andrea Ramsay Speers
I use a lot of skills in my work as a psychotherapist in Oakville. Some of these skills are ones that I teach my clients, too, and active listening is probably one of the [...]
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Alone…Together
Andrea Ramsay Speers
What your kids want more than anything is to spend more time with you. Even your teenagers. Seriously. I can’t point you to any specific studies that prove this (although I’m [...]
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Discipline Vs. Punishment
Andrea Ramsay Speers
I found a great explanation of the distinction, taken from Kathy Lynn’s book Who’s In Charge Anyway?: Discipline is not about pain or punishment, nor about revenge [...]
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