The Mental Emotional Health Blog

The flaws in me are mine. The best in me is from God.

A nice thing about good friendships is that they feel comfortable. You feel comfortable enough to be yourself, to decide whether or not to hang out with your friend, to open up or not open up, and it’s all okay with both of you.

Today, I want to draw attention to a recent weekly column by family psychologist John Rosemond. He has a great website about traditional parenting, is a sought-after speaker, and is a syndicated columnist appearing in about 250 newspapers in the United States.

His parenting positions are based on common sense and tradition, and he isn’t afraid to be provocative. Actually, I could correct that to say that he can be very direct and many in the U.S. find that provocative when it comes to parenting concerns and beliefs. I personally like being challenged to consider different intellectual topics so I have spent some time considering his parenting column from last week.

The link is here, and is worth reading if you are a parent or guardian:  Living With Children. I initially bristled at his challenging of the idea that high self-esteem in children is good. As I read the rest of the article, I came around to agreeing with his point. Teaching a child to respect others is more important than teaching them to have high self-esteem. That doesn’t mean children should have no or low self-esteem, it’s just that minimizing respect for others in favor of self-esteem is a poor parenting choice and could be socially dangerous. Remember that children are forming beliefs that will stay with them for a long time, possibly for the rest of their life. Respecting other people should be emphasized. This makes sense to me as a therapist and as a parent, and I endorse Mr. Rosemond’s perspective on it.

Have a great week everyone!

I like simple reminders like anagrams. Here is one (called “LIST”) about communicating and being supportive of another person.

L - Listen closely

I - Identify what the person is thinking and probably feeling

S - Summarize back to the person what you are hearing

T - Tell the person something supportive, whether it is a personal compliment, an acknowledgment of the difficulty of his or her situation, or agreeing with what he or she said.

As a therapist, I have lost count of the number of resources out there for parents about raising children. It is great that there are so many websites where you can find information, helpful articles, and support. On the other hand, it can be tough to know which sites have the best info and advice. Today, I want to introduce you to one that I think is one of the best.

Connect With Kids is a powerful network of parenting resources.  The topics are relevant and timely, and CWK addresses sensitive child and teen subjects with professionalism and wisdom. There are videos, articles, and also discussion boards so you can connect with other parents.

The website is here (Connect With Kids), and I highly suggest you check it out if you are raising a child or adolescent, or work with those ages as a health provider.