San Patrignano- An Amazing Treatment Center

Restorative Justice Circles Part I

Mock Restorative Circle and Interview with Circle Former Participants - PART 1 from Lorenn Walker on Vimeo.

Restorative Justice Circles II

Mock Restorative Circle and Interview with Circle Former Participants - PART 2 from Lorenn Walker on Vimeo.

Bill to Add Medicare Coverage for MFT's - Support in the US Senate

Now, Here Is the Most Fabulous Divorce! A New Bar Has Been Raised!

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

SnagFilms Film Widget

Family Therapy: Breaking Through the "Hostage Situation"

" I Feel Like We, the Parents, Are Hostages to our Children!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-ySzmn1FOE takes you to a link for the Video Clip on Structural Family Therapy, developed by Dr. Salvador Minuchin. The focus is on understanding the family's structure, the distinction between the subsystems (parents in the "luxury boxes" vs. children in the "cheap seats") the distribution and problems associated with power within the family "system" and the "joining" of the therapist to the family, in order to understand the family functioning and to address these characteristics: rigidity, overprotectiveness, lack of conflict resolution skills and enmeshment. It is important to pay particular attention to the interpersonal conflicts and alliances... Caveat: Family therapy is much like cleaning out the proverbial front hall closet- the one with the old skates and tennis racquets and the parts of the vacuum cleaner that look like 14th century weaponry... It looks worse before it gets better... The "overindulged" sector will resist the empowerment of the "parental sector" with varying degrees of force. The longer the disharmony has been in play, the more resistant the force. The therapist must use timing, humor, empathy and curiosity to start the illustrious change of events... Please check my playlist on you tube for other demonstrations of what this family therapy looks like... it really is not a mystery... just fasten your seat belts for the first 8-10 meetings...

A Lovely DNA Origami Box

What a beautiful box, which was made by strands of DNA + bits of DNA + a computer program and the results are published in Nature Magazine...

Sibling Rivalry Is Not Just for Kids!

Playing with Friends Can Be So Simple!

Parental Alienation (Canada): In OZ ~ A caring and sharing problem

Parental Alienation (Canada): In OZ ~ A caring and sharing problem Under review are these items: the presumption of shared parental responsibility and whether shared care is appropriate, the requirement to mediate before going to the Family Court, the Family Court's response to allegations of family violence and the interaction of federal family laws with state child protection and family violence laws. The link to this article should take you there.

Child Custody Decisions

Sibling Conflict: When Not To "Let Them Work It Out"

I saw it again, today... I think I see it almost every day or two... I was in the nursery (plants) and there were two little girls bickering and a STTM (stressed to the max) parent. As I looked around, all of the dozen or so adults looked tense as the girls escalated the behavior. Finally, the parent snapped... "Of COURSE, you are going to start crying now, right?" They probably had no idea how much all of us empathized with their plight- how to deal with little girls fussing without feeling like a inadequate parent. Not true! We're all in this, together, and we need all of the support we can possibly get!!

Thoughts for next time? Intervene early, tell both children that whatever the item or activity may be, it is now on a time out, due to their behavior. Deliver all of this in a mild, yet firm tone. When they protest (which will be in unison) empathize with their disappointment and resist the urge to tell them why or yack about fault... "I hear that you all are disappointed. We will try this again in an hour or so..."

And, then... Glide on....

Loyal Dog Waits for Family After Big Rig Crash!!

Summer Breeeezeee

They say that there exists such a thing as "Winds of Change..." If it isn't true, it sure should be... Around our neck of the woods, there is one child gearing up to launch, another comes closer and still steady on his track, their dad is the best balanced of the two of us, and my focus is changing in my work as I become increasingly troubled by how we model conflict resolution.

A wise (and smartie pants!) colleague asked me the other day: "Why don't you practice law?"

I responded "I do... I serve my role in mediation (and sometimes arbitration or evaluation or parent coordination) with custody, family mediation, elder mediation... I love the law and revere it... I just have a very hard time with the way it is practiced."

So, I just wait and watch as the idea of the interdisciplinary approach to helping heal ourselves ... thus modeling this for our "clients" continues to grow... I know this sounds odd, but my background is rooted as a hard science person.

Over the last 33 years, I have been exposed, jumbled and TAUGHT by the TRUE masters... my patients and my clients and all of the client families ... and my colleagues and my husband and my children ... and my own process of aging and (hopefully!) maturing... Every encounter humbles me and reminds me of the fragility and sanctity of life... even my recent encounter with Jeremy, the "Challenged AT&T Guy"... Thank God for Dale, the "REAL AT&T GUY!" Don't you love changing your office phones? EEK! It's all about the little things, every time!