How Can Families Cope With Stress Together?
Parenting is an all-consuming job—one that calls for constant caretaking, problem solving, emotional labor, and financial resources. Today, many parents are juggling all of these responsibilities with less emotional support than ever before. Given these pressures, it’s no surprise that parental stress is on the rise. In 2023, nearly 50% of parents surveyed reported feeling […]
Is Mandated Reporting Racist? What Families Must Know
One in three children in the United States will be reported to child protective services (CPS) before they turn 18. For Black children, that number is nearly one in two. This is not a minor issue. Reporting touches millions of families—disproportionately Black, Brown, Indigenous, immigrant, disabled, and poor. But most families learn how this system […]
Enmeshed Families: When Control Is Disguised as Closeness
Most people value close, supportive family relationships. We want to feel loved, understood, and connected. But when families become too tightly connected—or enmeshed—that closeness can interfere with our ability to develop our own identity, make independent choices, and pursue our goals. What Is Enmeshment? Enmeshment is often confused with closeness or intimacy, both of which […]
Tips to Help Families Flourish in Troubled Times
Ask yourself of whatever you hear: Is it true? This fundamental teaching relates to mindfulness and to all of life. Be skeptical and think for yourself. Change only happens when you believe on a gut level that action is needed. The world is in crisis. It always has been, but it feels particularly intense lately. […]
Eight Ways to Bring Families and Schools Into…
While there are certainly many bright spots to celebrate, our public school system is struggling. At both the school and district levels, there are unprecedented levels of divisiveness, overwhelm, and fatigue for both families and educators. Politics and culture wars have increasingly entered the classroom and, with them, a cloud of mistrust has descended on […]