Have your children ever avoided homework?  Not wanted to do their chores?  Do you need help in discerning “can’t” from “won’t” in your child?  (See my blog about behavior and choices.)  Do you wonder whether to remove privileges or add work?  Let’s be honest–we all avoid things, even things that make us happy.  I love to write, yet I often avoid writing.  Being consistent in enforcing consequences takes a lot of discipline–but it is the best gift you can give to your child, something we cannot afford to avoid.  I have reasonable fees; don’t pay Southeast Psych or Carolinas Counseling Center prices!

See my blog for ideas about how to handle homework issues. 

I have over 20,000 hours of face-to-face interaction with children and their parents.  I know the school system inside and out, including IEPs, 504s, and teacher student relations.  As a teacher, I was responsible for managing the behavior of 20 plus children at a time, while motivating them to learn.  I have developed and implemented quite a few behavior contracts during my 17 years of teaching and I have helped quite a few children in whom nobody believed.  I believe any child can learn and I have lots of ideas for you!

While it is important for children and adolescents to have an increasing amount of autonomy, they are also dependent on you to set boundaries and to be a boundary.  I believe that anyone, whether as a child or as an adult, can learn focus, self-control, and responsibility.  We don’t want our children jumping from relationship to relationship or from job to job because they cannot tolerate rules or frustration.  You can learn how to negotiate power struggles and develop fair and reasonable consequences.  You can also learn how to avoid getting derailed in a discussion or an attempt to avoid consequences.  There is nothing wrong with earning privileges.  In the real world, will their teachers and professors give them As before they write their papers?  Will their bosses pay them before they do their work?