Category Archives: mental health
Building Self-Esteem in Kids
One of the most frequent concerns I hear from parents is that their children struggle with low self esteem. We ‘re all worried that our kids don’t feel good enough about themselves. It seems to me that this is a … Continue reading
Parenting Through Separation and Divorce
One of the most difficult times to parent is when one is experiencing a breakup of the parental relationship. Parenting requires such physical and emotional energy and when a parent is depleted of both, due to their own emotional turmoil, grief, … Continue reading
Needing a Dose of Sunshine
The winter months can sometimes be difficult ones for folks who struggle with depression. The shorter days with reduced sunlight, imbalances in melatonin and seratonin, and decreased opportunities for social contact may all play a role along with our genetic … Continue reading
Anxious Beginnings
For most kids, this month marks the beginning of a new school year. With that new beginning usually comes a mixture of feelings-excitement, happiness, sadness that summer is over, maybe some dread of the work to come, and often some … Continue reading
My Parenting Toolbox–Regulating our own Emotions
As parents we are often concerned about helping our children regulate their emotions. That is, helping them handle frustration, anger, sadness, excitement, fear and other strong emotions in an appropriate manner, soothing themselves. This ability is so important for our … Continue reading
The Parenting Toolbox
Do you ever wish that you had a toolbox that you could reach into and find just the right tool to handle a particular issue as a parent? Most of us have wished kids came with a set of instructions. … Continue reading
More on Looking for Happiness
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been sharing some of what the research teaches us about ways to be happier. We’ve explored the importance of play, community, and having new experiences. Let’s look at two more ways to lead … Continue reading
Happiness, Part 2
Last post I mentioned that we all have an individual natural set point for happiness. That set point, determined by our genes, determines about 50% of our happiness levels. Our circumstances account for only about another 10%. (People generally overestimate … Continue reading
Happiness
Have you noticed all the recent hype about happiness? Books, magazine articles, film documentaries, everyone seems very intent on getting happy. I see it in my practice more than ever. Parents want “happy” kids. Spouses want “happy” marriages. I believe … Continue reading
Sometimes we just need to switch things up a bit!
Welcome to my new website! You may notice a few changes. First of all, I have combined my blog and website into this one site. It’s now possible to follow my blog and access information about my psychotherapy practice all … Continue reading
Gretchen Derda (Woosley), MSW, LCSW 
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