by Harper West | Aug 22, 2021 | Parenting, Shame
Aliesha, 9, had reluctantly followed her parents from the waiting room into my office and slumped into a chair. Her parents immediately launched into a description of her latest behaviors and their concerns about how this would cause her to flunk a grade and be held...
by Harper West | Jun 27, 2021 | Parenting
I met the mother, father, and daughter in my waiting room for their second therapy appointment. (This case is a fictionalized composite.) In the 20 seconds it took the family to walk from my waiting room to my office, I heard the mother say all of this to the child:...
by Harper West | Aug 25, 2018 | ADHD, Self-Acceptance
I have had several requests lately for information on how Self-Acceptance Psychology reframes emotional and behavioral problems. Rather than using the false “disease model” of “mental disorders” advocated for decades by psychiatrists and the...
by Harper West | Nov 16, 2015 | Parenting, Shame
The power of shame is so great that just one sentence, used repeatedly in parenting, might teach a child to feel ashamed and lead to a lifetime of low self-worth. Let’s examine a common scenario: A child misbehaves by throwing a toy, then starts having a tantrum, and...
by Harper West | Aug 18, 2014 | Relationships
Often in therapy patients speak of being unable to give or accept compliments easily and graciously. As a psychotherapist, rather than treat this as merely a sign of poor social skills, I latch onto it and explore it as a symbol of deeper emotional issues....
