Socially Anxious Kid

Back to School for the Kid with Social Anxiety

Being a kid with social anxiety isn’t easy.  As adults, many of us still have difficulty sitting down at a table and introducing ourselves to a group of strangers. In fact, many of us can say that if given the choice, we would likely choose not to be in that situation. Remember that your child […]

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How Your Uncertainty Can Hold You Back From Life (And What To Do About It)

Sometimes A Parent Time Out Is Important Too

Parenting is hard. Children are joyful, energetic, and loving; they are also often challenging, frustrating, and overwhelming. Many of us think of time-outs as a way to help our children understand when they are acting in ways that are unhelpful, harmful, hurtful, or dangerous. When this is the case, we often recognize that our children […]

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Many Children Looking at Personal Screens

Keeping Your Child Safe On-Line

Many parents are uncertain of how to keep their children safe on-line. Although most of us use computers in our day to day jobs, we grew up at a time in history where friendship and learning primarily occurred face to face, and not through a screen or electronic device. Children today use electronics to learn, […]

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Parent Stress Increases Child Stress

Many children experience anxiety from time to time In fact, there is evidence to suggest that the number of children with anxiety disorders continues to increase over time, as well as the intensity of anxiety symptoms. Many things contribute to the stress children experience today.  Our culture demands more time and energy from both children […]

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Smiling and laughing

Trauma Focused CBT For Children and Adolescents

What is Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)? Trauma-Focused CBT is relationship-based. Your therapist will get to know you and your child, and work with you to feel better. Children and their parents attend sessions together. Also, it uses trauma-sensitive therapy along with with cognitive behavioral, family, and humanistic work. Importantly, the focus is to help […]

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Bullying in Childhood – Advice for Parents

Bullying awareness is important. Recent studies have found that between 10%-50% of children are bullied on a regular basis at school, most commonly between the grades of six and ten. An online study of 50,000 teenagers by dosomething.org found that 80% of teenagers witness bullying daily. Even when children are bystanders to aggression, they often […]

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Parents are included in mental health treatment of young children

How to Help Children Process Tragedies

Dr. Anderson and Hope Springs Behavioral Consultants were recently feature on Fox News Channel 2 KGAN Cedar Rapids, providing an expert opinion on how to help children process tragedies on the news. The psychologists at Hope Springs have provided expert interviews to the Iowa City Press Citizen, and the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

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Disagreements Within Challenging Relationships

One of the more popular topics on this blog is dealing with disagreements Disagreements are challenging for everyone.  On this blog, we’ve written about how to recognize difficult people, as well as some tips for dealing with them. Some other great questions that have been asked about challenging relationships are: “What do you do when […]

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Long Road

“Defensive Driving” in Relationships

Relationships can be hard. They change with us over time, as we change. Some are long, some are short. Some are romantic or emotionally involved. Some are not. Some are with co-workers, some are with people we supervise. But, all have signs of healthy and unhealthy patterns. And like avoiding accidents, some relationships are best watched with caution, and require careful monitoring. In some instances, it’s best to just get off the road.

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Difficulty with Visual and Spatial Reasoning

Math Challenges in Children: How to Help

Mathematics is often thought of as a subject that a student either understands or doesn’t, with little in between. In reality, mathematics encompasses a wide variety of skills and concepts….. Challenges with learning can be very difficult for a child. But, they don’t have to reflect catastrophe or a life-long battle with success. In fact many of the world’s most talented people have struggled with some type of learning issue. The main goal is to keep going, reach out for help, and learn about yourself in the process.

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Why Mindset is More Important than Achievement for Your Child’s Success

Most parents want nothing more for their children than to be happy and to succeed in life. Parents often spend a lot of time and money to help children in school become strong students. Teachers and schools emphasize grades and test scores as indices of how your child is doing, and even your child’s potential. Many people feel that children need to be intelligent or have good grades to become successful in life. The truth is, however, that there may be something more important than academics that we should be teaching our children.

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Support and encourage your child's participation in therapy to help him recover from the effects of divorce

Starting Therapy for Your Kids When You Are Going Through Divorce

Separation and divorce are very difficult times for families. In fact, other than death, researchers have ranked it one of the most stressful things that people can go through. Many times, in divorce, people can be hurt, angry, and distrustful of their ex-spouse. Often they have to deal with the loss of income, change in residence, and even loss of friends. They may feel a sense of guilt or shame regarding their marriage, and their inability to make it work. They may have to find a way to handle their ex-partner treating them disrespectfully. These concerns are further amplified when you have children.

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