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 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 November 19th, 2020 By Raffi Bilek

The holidays this year will be different than ever before. COVID considerations will have to play into every decision we make about our plans. Are you willing to get into an airplane, or will you […]

Posted on January 15th, 2020 By Raffi Bilek

Family conflict is a part of life. There is no family without some level of discord and disagreement. And most families survive intact despite it. However, in some families the level of conflict is elevated […]

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 June 20th, 2019 By Raffi Bilek

You spent decades of your life raising your children. You poured your love, time, effort, and money into giving them the best life you could. Sure, you made mistakes along the way, but you tried […]

Posted on May 13th, 2019 By Raffi Bilek

There’s been conflict in your family for some time now, and you’re ready to finally get some professional help with it. Strong personalities within a family can make it very hard to change the system […]

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 April 17th, 2018 By Raffi Bilek

Change is hard. This is a truth I live by professionally, but it is also a reality in my personal life.  This week we are moving to a new office, and I must admit that […]

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 January 9th, 2017 By Raffi Bilek

The Five Love Languages® is a great tool for improving relationships, whether you’re at the beginning of a new relationship or you’ve been married for decades.  It is a very simple and understandable method of […]

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 […]

Posted on August 24th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek

We frequently get calls for family therapy, specifically regarding troubled mother/daughter relationships.  These include young parents with school- or preschool-aged children, middle-aged women with their teenage/young adult daughters, and even up to elderly women who […]

Posted on July 6th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek

An amazing thing happened in my house last night. I was out for the evening, and I came home to find a tired but relatively cheerful wife and three sleeping children. This is what I […]

Posted on June 2nd, 2016 By Raffi Bilek

Yes, this is an actual picture of me at something like 15 and my real-life mom. I believe we’re on a biking trip in one of the Carolinas.  The exceptionally poor quality is due to […]

Posted on May 12th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek

Parents-in-law have been known to cause grief in many a marriage, but they can also be of tremendous help to it.  In this article I touch on just a few important notes for how parents […]

Posted on March 31st, 2016 By Raffi Bilek

It is not uncommon for us to field calls from people looking to get help for someone other than themselves. One common category of such callers is the family member of someone with borderline personality […]