The problem with holding teachers largely responsible for their students' learning is that many learning difficulties derive from emotional and family issues that are uncontrolled by the teacher. Teachers teach--with greater or lesser knowledge and creativity--and can be a catalyst for a child's learning but they do not control most elements of a Read More
A Psychologist's Thoughts on Clinical Practice, Behavior, and Life
The Cheapest, Most Effective Pre-School Education
May 8, 2015
While no one can dispute the value of most education, the cheapest and most effective early intervention “program” would be for parents to read to their children from 2 years of age onward, and to speak with rather than to them (as by explaining why something should be done rather than merely saying, “do it Read More
Psychotherapy and Artistic Creativity
May 8, 2015
While psychotherapy remains the best hope for those who experienced emotionally destructive childhoods it is not the only avenue toward health. Artists often use their creative ability to express their conflicts and relieve their feelings. The writer's block, of which so many writers complain, can indicate the presence of a creative blockage caused by Read More
Excessive Video Game Play By Teenagers
May 8, 2015
On a bulletin board on Amazon.com, a mother spoke of her distress at the excessive video game play by her teenager. This was his major interest and interfered with his school performance and family life. So intense was his involvement with these games that he would become enraged when his parents attempted Read More
Child Abuse in America
May 8, 2015
It's a popular belief that Americans always cared about the welfare of their children but this is not true. The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was established in 1874 after the widespread publicity given to a horrendous case, that of a ten year old Mary Ellen.
She had been severely Read More
She had been severely Read More
ADHD and ADD Explained Briefly
May 8, 2015
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptoms are identical to those of anxiety and depression and have a long history, having been asserted to "mental restlessness" in the eighteenth century and Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD) in the early twentieth century. These terms are descriptions of behavior, and to believe that they Read More
Psychological Development, Schools, and Poverty
May 8, 2015
Schools are often blamed for their students' downward economic mobility based on the conclusion that had the children learned more they would, in adulthood, be employed at skilled, higher paid jobs. But even in the least effective school, some children do excel. As I once described a school system Read More