CAROLYN KATCHMAR

Most parents are so busy making sure all of their children are getting to school and completing their assignments that some fail to think about what is going to happen to them once they complete high school.

Most parents feel safe when their children watch “G” and “PG” rated films. A recent study published in the January 2008 issue of Pediatrics looked at 2,499 children between the ages of 9 and 12 years of age in New ...

Over 32 years working in this field, I have a common question from parents of adult children, “When will my children be old enough that we don’t need to worry about them anymore?”

Are you a frustrated parent? Are you tired of talking to your child and not getting a response? You are not alone. Many parents are experiencing this similar problem. This is not a new problem; parents have experienced this problem ...

I recently came across a book written by Jacqueline Marcell entitled “Elder Rage or Take My Father … Please!” This is a very interesting and well written book about how she cared for her frail mother and her rebellious 85-year ...

Most parents are very frustrated by their children’s anger. They are concerned as to why their children tend to be so angry and they don’t understand the anger.

Many years ago when my children were young I used to think there was something wrong with my family. I didn’t understand why they were fighting so much (Back then, I was not a counselor and did not have the ...

When alcoholism became recognized as a disease, treatment programs started to include addressing the problems of the family members of an alcoholic or substance abuser as well as the alcoholic or substance abuser. Unfortunately, prior to this time, the treatment ...

Valentine’s Day is a day to remember your love and to express your love for your loved one. Yes, in the above sentence, I just said ‘to remember your love and to express your love for your loved one’.

Quite often when people come into my office experiencing depression, they are quite upset with themselves because they feel they don’t have any reason to be depressed. Unfortunately, this thought hinders their healing process.

Depression is a confusing issue for some people. This is a topic that is close to my heart because 18 years ago, the executive director of the Mental Health Association of Collier County approached me to facilitate a depression group ...

It’s not easy to build and maintain a happy and satisfying marriage. We know this from statistics which indicate that approximately 50 percent of first marriages and over 60 percent of second marriages end in divorce.

While we adults did not agree with everything our parents believed and did when we were young, we respected their opinions and we were grateful if and when they respected ours.

I pondered what to write for my first column of 2008 and decided on some positive steps you can do to keep yourself mentally healthy.

New Year’s Eve has always been the time of the year when people seem to make their resolutions concerning what they will do differently in the next year.

We are less than a week away from Christmas and much has been happening in many different households. Some have completed their shopping and are busy finalizing plans for the holidays.

This is the time of the year when normally everyone is busy scurrying about purchasing gifts for their loved ones. For many people though, this year has been dampened by the drop in economy so this is not a very ...

One of the questions I am asked quite frequently is, “Why do people stay in relationships even when there is verbal, emotional and physical abuse?”

How do you know if your relationship is healthy? For over 30 years I have seen people come in ready to leave their first, second or third marriage. Most of them believed they had a healthy relationship in the beginning. ...

Thanksgiving Day originated nearly four centuries ago when the pilgrims dedicated a day for thanking God for the bounty He had given them. They had begun their journey from Southampton, England in August of 1620 with 103 passengers. They had ...

It is great to see parents interested in their children and in their children’s after school activities. It seems a majority of these parents are very enthusiastic about having them involved in sports.

Parents want their children to have a satisfactory career in the future, however many are confused as to how they can provide the guidance for their children.

Becoming a stepparent is not an easy move. I know. I was there nearly 30 years ago. Back then, there was very little known about the stepfamily situation. People used to think it was just another way of forming a ...

Many families come into my office. These are families that want the very best for their children. When I speak with the parents alone, I ask them if they are accepting of their child. The normal response I receive is, ...

Some of you may be wondering, male menopause? How can that be? Naturally, men cannot have menopause like women, but many men over the age of 35 or so do have the male equivalent called andropause, which has many of ...

Intimacy in a relationship is the “true jewel” each person searches and struggles to obtain. Unfortunately, many people do not have a clear knowledge of exactly what they are looking for. Thus, they are blindly searching for it in the ...

Last week I was inspired to write about sibling rivalry due to the television interview on the Today show of the parents who had 17 children and how well those children respected and appreciated each other.

I was inspired to write this column as a result of a few minutes of an interview I saw on the Today show this past week. On that day, they interviewed a husband and wife who had 17 children. I ...

This may seem strange to you, but one of the most common problems of childhood is anxiety. On the other hand, it’s one of the least recognized problems.

It’s not unusual to worry at times. All of us have been worried about something and conveyed our worries to a family member or friend and were told, “Don’t worry.”

I am sure I’ve mentioned in previous columns my concern about how much parents are giving materially to their children and in turn what children are expecting from their parents, and, in the future, from society. It’s a little frightening, ...

I doubt there is anyone who hasn’t been hurt by rejection. Even when it is not personal, there is still a sting to it. Yes, rejection can be emotionally painful because of the social nature of human beings and our ...

School has begun this week and many children are excited about the beginning of this new school year. For some, it may be the anxiety of the first time beginning a full day of school. For others, it may be ...

It’s human nature to complain. Everyone does it to some extent. However, the key comes by looking at how much you are complaining and how much you are focusing in the negative.

Summer is a pleasurable and fun time for children and for parents alike. It gives both a chance to get out of the hectic daily school day routine.

Each day our world seems to be moving faster. Many, many years ago, when television first came out, there were only a few channels available. Now, there are hundreds of channels from which to choose. Then we became inundated by ...

It has been my experience that most couples view their marital differences as a negative experience. Some couples have expressed their arguments as being so stressful they didn’t feel they had the energy to continue. Others related if my spouse ...

I have received many comments regarding my column several weeks ago on ‘Living without regret means practicing forgiveness.’ Quite a few have also requested I address this issue again in relating it specifically to parenting. So, I have decided to ...

Quite frequently the question comes up, ‘So what does it take to make a relationship successful?’ This is a complex question, and difficult to answer in the brevity of this column. However, I will address one aspect of it today.

How many times have we spoken of a regret? Think about it. I have been here 18 years and if only I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say, “I wish I had invested in a piece ...

Over time, while providing counseling, I have witnessed many couples who have been married 35 to 40 years. Most of them have also successfully raised several children. It seems strange to them that they found themselves sitting in my office.

Over the years, I have seen many married people confused about the idea of forgiving their partner. They acknowledge having feelings of hate, yet believe they should be forgiving. They feel stuck. So, what is the right thing to do?

It can be very frustrating for a parent when they are trying to communicate with their teen and they barely get more than a three to five word response, if that, from them.

This is the time of year when many couples are exchanging their vows, promising to love each other forever! However, with the high percentages of divorce, I believe people need to take caution beyond the words, ‘I do!’

What a joy to be a grandparent! We know men are very proud to be grandfathers and are busting their buttons about those grandchildren. However, we normally hear more about the grandmothers — talking and bragging and showing pictures of ...

Ethics and civility

Caregivers should care about themselves as much as they do their valued friends.

Premarital counseling can better prepare a couple for some of the potential detours and rough roads they may encounter. Many couples I counsel say they wish that they could have taken some before they were married to learn what they ...

We all have something in common. We all want to be happy. However, some of us are confused by what being happy means.

Most parents experience mixed emotions as their adolescents near the age of acquiring a driver’s license. Be assured, your teen has been looking forward to this day for a long time.