Articles And News

Unfortunately, foster children lose once again to politics. Virginia’s State Board of Social Services voted yesterday (washingtonpost.com) to continue its ban on adoptions by gay couples. It’s hard to know how that vote serves the children who are waiting for a loving family. Through no fault of their own, they have no family to return…

That was the reason a clinical psychologist in her thirties gave for her parents’ divorce when she was eight years old. She “knew better.” She was smart and well educated and, as an adult, fully aware that marriages didn’t break up over a glass of spilled milk. But sometimes—maybe when she was having a restless…

Rejection hurts. That’s hardly a surprise to anyone who has been shunned by a friend, ostracized from a group, mocked by a co-worker, or been the one left behind at the end of a romantic relationship. The surprise comes from research recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrating that social rejection…

We brought Guinness home from the shelter about two years ago. In preparation for his arrival, I bought a gate to put at the head of the stairs from the deck to the yard. I had in mind that he, like our previous dog, would like to be outside, but I didn’t want him to…

On this the tenth day of National Foster Care Month we are launching a celebration of ten years of service to the foster care community. From a small group of therapists working only in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have grown to a network of private practice clinicians working in fifty large and small communities…

The recent failed attempt to pass a bill that would open California’s dependency courts to the public, highlights the complexity of simultaneously trying to protect the rights and privacy of children in the foster care system. As courts across the country are moving to allow the public to attend hearings concerning the lives of foster…

The federal budget is settled—at least for the moment. But when the battle begins anew, the political fortunes of the Obama administration and Congressional leaders John Boehner and Harry Reid are likely to dominate the news. With unfortunate predictability, politics distracts our attention from the very real human consequences of the activities on Capitol Hill.…

This was the title of our very provocative conference in San Francisco last Saturday that focused on the psychodynamic treatment of children and young adults suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome. We repeatedly heard from the presenters about the complex reactions of both the patients and their families when they failed to find a way to connect to…

When you stop to think about it, musical chairs is a curious activity for entertaining children. In case you don’t remember—or never played it at a friend’s birthday party—a group of chairs, numbering one fewer than the number of players, is arranged in a circle, seats facing out. As the music starts, the children walk…

Times of scarcity can make people afraid—fearful that their meager resources will disappear with no chance of replenishing them. In response, some people hoard what they have and keep things far beyond their useful life (Strings Too Short to be of Use). Others find it too painful to share—feeling that there just isn’t enough to…