Posted on October 16th, 2024 By Raffi Bilek

Sometimes, family is all we have. Nobody knows you like your parents, grandparents, or siblings, as they’ve shaped the way you are today, for better and worse. They make up an important cornerstone of our […]

Posted on October 15th, 2024 By Raffi Bilek

As we age, performing normal daily activities can become increasingly challenging. Folks in the sandwich generation often discover that their elderly parents require assistance with routine tasks like meal preparation, medication management, and healthcare decisions. […]

Posted on October 24th, 2022 By Raffi Bilek

In a recent post we opened up the topic of divorce and what some of the reasons might be to consider it. In this post we’ll consider what the consequences of divorce could be. As […]

Posted on September 2nd, 2021 By Raffi Bilek

If your child is experiencing negative feelings that persist to the point that they are not functioning properly, then they might be suffering from a depressive disorder. According to the Centers for Disease Control and […]

Posted on June 7th, 2021 By Raffi Bilek

Divorce stinks. Even when it’s the best option, it’s still a bad option. And this is doubly so when there are kids involved. (Actually, that’s probably an understatement. A divorce with no children is painful; […]

Posted on October 5th, 2020 By Raffi Bilek

When two people share a child in common, the relationship between the two of them is hard to sever entirely. Certainly when the children are young there is a lot of physical care that goes […]

Posted on March 17th, 2020 By Raffi Bilek

Let’s be real. This is, in the true sense of the word, unprecedented. We’re all a little anxious. We all know people who are in the higher-risk category. Many of us are facing a good […]

Posted on September 4th, 2019 By Raffi Bilek

Have you seen this alarming article yet? ‘Picky’ teen goes blind after diet of only fries and chips, study says. Apparently a British teenager refused to eat anything but “french fries, Pringles, white bread, processed […]

Posted on August 14th, 2019 By Raffi Bilek

There are many reasons adults may decide to stop talking to their siblings. Old wounds from their childhood interactions are a major culprit, as are ongoing personality differences that cause friction. Often a major life event will lead to a break, such as a Thanksgiving dinner gone awry, or, regrettably, the death of a parent and the inheritance squabbles that can ensue.

Posted on July 22nd, 2019 By Raffi Bilek

In our last post I offered some ideas on how parents can go about reconnecting with adult children who have become distant and disconnected. In this post I’d like to talk a bit more about […]

Posted on October 8th, 2018 By Raffi Bilek

Recently I had the great pleasure of going to an escape room for a bit of family fun. If you’re not familiar,

Posted on August 9th, 2018 By Raffi Bilek

It is generally accepted in today’s generation of parents that praise and encouragement are the tools of choice in childrearing rather than some past methods such as yelling, shaming, and, of course, whupping. Praise and […]

Posted on May 8th, 2018 By Raffi Bilek

Recently I was interviewed on the radio to discuss the question of how to prioritize your relationship with your spouse vs. your kids. You can listen to the 20-minute segment here. Here’s the spoiler: I […]

Posted on June 14th, 2017 By Raffi Bilek

Young children are constantly running to their parents to show them what they’re doing or playing with – “Mommy look! I put a hat on the baby doll!” “Daddy, see the picture I drew?”  Often […]

Posted on June 5th, 2017 By Raffi Bilek

I’d like to share with you a handy parenting tool that is easier to use than it might sound.  It’s nothing brilliant or novel – just one of those things sitting under your nose all […]

Posted on May 25th, 2017 By Raffi Bilek

Another common battleground for parents with young children is mealtime.  Getting kids to eat their proverbial veggies has been a vexing problem since time immemorial.  Just as we noted with bedtime, it’s unlikely you will […]

Posted on May 16th, 2017 By Raffi Bilek

If you have young children, you don’t need me to tell you what it’s like getting through bedtime.  The hassle, the arguments, the frustrations – it happens to all of us.  Don’t worry – it’s […]

Posted on January 24th, 2017 By Raffi Bilek

Words of Affirmation is the first of the love languages described in Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages system. For people whose primary love language is Words of Affirmation, it’s what you say that counts.  This […]

Posted on September 26th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek

In the previous post we cited a number of examples of role changes that can lead to conflict in the home and the importance of family therapy for managing these transitions.  There we focused primarily […]

Posted on September 8th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek

Why do relationships between mothers and daughters that are warm, loving, and peaceable turn into battlegrounds of conflict and frustration?  What happens that causes such a drastic change, often in so short a time? The […]