Author name: Jody Johnston Pawel LSW CFLE

Messy Rooms: How Do I Teach Children To De-clutter & Donate Toys To Charity?

Messy Rooms: How Do I Teach Children To De-clutter & Donate Toys To Charity?  The December holidays are coming to a close. As you come to from your turkey-induced drowsiness and look around, you feel a spark of motivation to use your few days off work to tackle some household chores you’ve been meaning to …

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How Do You Respond To Passive Aggressive Behavior? Tips For Dealing With Difficult People

Your mother-in-law suggested doing a gift exchange this year, at her house. Her instructions we were to give gifts only to the person whose name you drew. Any gifts you wanted to give to other family members we to be given another time, just with those people. As the gift exchange gifts were being passed …

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Effective Communication Skills: How Can I Use Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Skills To Talk So Children Listen?

Effective Communication Skills:  How Can I Use Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Skills To Talk So Children Listen? Jennifer has 3 children ages 8, 12, and 16. She struggles getting any of them to listen and cooperate. Any time she tries to have a conversation with one of them about what needs done, they mumble or …

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How Can Stay At Home Moms Dealing With Loneliness Create Their Own Support Systems?

Tonya is among the ranks of stay-at-home moms.  She thinks it is important to be the primary caregiver for her child throughout the early years. Although Tonya enjoys being able to see her child reach all the first milestones, she finds herself longing for the adult companionship she had with her co-workers and is dealing …

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How Do You Teach Effective Communication Skills To Your Children?

“How was your day?” Rebecca asked her twelve-year-old when he came home from school. “Ok,” he responds. “Did you learn anything new today?” she asks. “Nope,” her son plainly says while staring out the window. “Well, what did you do today?” she asks. “Nothing,” her son responds in a tone of voice that was clearly …

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What Can Be Done When There is A Bad Role Model Within Sibling Relationships or Among Peers?

Debbie’s thirteen-year-old, Darren, is a poor behavior example for her younger children. She is constantly telling Darren to keep his hands to himself and let the younger children do things on their own. She tells him, “You’re not their parent,” because he tells the younger children what to do and tries to punish them.  The …

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Effective Problem Solving Strategies: How Do You Teach Children To Responsibly Solve Their Own Problems?

“I don’t know what’s up with my friends lately.  It seems they never have time to hang out and do anything I think will be fun,” David complains to his mom, Chloe. “Well there is so much you can do on your own, David.  What do you need your friends for?  Why don’t you go …

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Children and Divorce: How Do You Ease A Teen’s Resistance to Divorce and Remarriage?

Brad’s fiancé, Rebecca is 40 and he is 46. Brad is divorced without kids and Rebecca has a fourteen-year-old son from a prior marriage. When they moved into Brad’s home, Rebecca’s son became difficult. He has rejected all prior suitors, not because he wants his parents to get back together, but to be the man …

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