How to deal with oppositional behaviour “NO WAY, NEVER, YOU CAN’T MAKE ME DO IT” Are you sick of hearing this in your household? Many parents tell me they are tired of arguing with their children. But if you ask the child, “How many times out of ten, when your mother (father, teacher) asks you to do something, will you do it the first time without arguing or fighting?”, many will tell you, “Not many times, maybe two or three out of ten.”And then if you ask them why, they tell you they have no idea why they do it, that it is not their goal to be oppositional.No wonder parents get confused not knowing how to deal with oppositional behaviour.Oppositional behavior … [Read more...]

I just want to be happy Have you noticed that some people seem to have everything, but they’re still not happy? And yet you meet other people who have very little, but their lives seem full of love and laughter – and they sure seem to be happy! Why is that?What is happiness anyway? If you were truly happy, how would you know? What would be different in your life? Would you have greater wealth? Or better health? Would you have lots of friends or be going on regular holidays?Some people have no wealth, poor health, and never go on holiday – but they are happy!So perhaps they have less stress than others? Or more family support?Look again, that is not always the … [Read more...]

Stress symptoms checklist Do you know when you feel stressed? Can you identify whereabouts in your body you feel your stress? Some people feel it in their chest first, or their neck and shoulders. Others get tightness in their head, which fast becomes a headache. Or another person may feel their heart start to palpitate resulting in a “buzzy” type of feeling. (A lady once came to see me because she thought she had MS – but it was stress! And her response was, “Well, I’m fed up with being stressed”!)Stress is the sensation our body has when it is aroused with adrenalin, produced by the adrenal glands on top of the kidneys, when your brain interprets that there is … [Read more...]

Learning how to manage types of difficult behavior from the people in your life makes a huge difference in how you feel about a person when you understand what drives their behavior. It is common to think that if someone doesn’t agree with us, they’re wrong. If they look or act or speak differently to us, then we have to be on guard in case they can’t be trusted.And if you are even a little bit “on edge” then being around that person can be stressful. The same thing happens when people are different to what you are used to or what you expect.Have your ever been hurt and bewildered by the way someone has treated you, or spoken to you?Perhaps they’ve snapped at you or … [Read more...]

Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (Adult ADD) is not a condition – It’s who you are! It was once thought that children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) grew out of it by adulthood, but research indicates this is not always the case. Some children with ADD will grow into adults with ADD, but with greater life experience and development of skills, adults often learn to mask ADD and manage in spite of it.Since this neuro-biological state did not have a name until about 20 years ago, any person older than 20 will not have been detected as having ADD, either by parents or teachers, nor received the special support or understanding that can make life a little … [Read more...]