development

Ability Doesn’t Occur in a Vacuum

April 14, 2016
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I had the distinct pleasure earlier this week to watch a graduate student present to a group of parents on her advanced practicum experience. This student has been working this spring with their children, focusing specifically on facilitating their emotion development. Being that this was a graduate course, this focus went a little deeper than […]

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[PsychToday] Don’t Stop the Music Learning

February 6, 2016
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I had the pleasure last week of serving on a panel following a screening of the BBC documentary Don’t Stop the Music. The film chronicled the journey of professional pianist James Rhodes as he worked to collect enough instruments for one school to begin an orchestra program. The project has grown—according to the website, James […]

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5 Difficult Concepts Made Easier by Disney’s “Inside Out”

June 26, 2015
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Disclaimer: This post gives away some plot lines from the Disney movie Inside Out. Read at your own risk. The other day, the family and I did something that millions of other families do on a typically Sunday afternoon. We went to the movies. The movie of choice? Disney’s recently released cartoon movie Inside Out. […]

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[PsychToday] 5 Intrinsic Perks of Music

September 17, 2014
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There is mounting evidence that music training benefits skills and areas that are non-musical in nature. Musicians tend to score higher on verbal and math tests. There are differences in the motor and sensory processing areas of a musician’s brain. Musicians also have greater aural acuity, meaning they can more accurately process pitch. Plus the […]

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Feeling Stagnant

July 9, 2014
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I’ve been struggling to come up with topic ideas for this blog. It’s not a new struggle—this kind of stagnation has happened periodically in my 5+ years of blogging. You may even call it writer’s block. My initial reaction to this feeling is always one of alarm. After all, I take a developmental approach and […]

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Mommy Mondays: Teaching Complexity to a Concrete Mind

September 23, 2013
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My 6-almost-7 year old son views the world in very concrete ways. For example, to him events in the world are either fair or not fair. If his sister is snuggling with me, then he should get to snuggle with me for the exact same amount of time . . . or it won’t be […]

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Mommy Mondays: 9 Things I Did Right as a First-Time Mommy

September 3, 2013
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I had kids early compared with most of my friends. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now my circle of peers are beginning to have their own children, many of them for the first time. One advantage of this wave of new babies is that it has prompted me to reflect […]

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An Evolving Understanding of a Professional Framework

November 29, 2012
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One of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of returning to school is that I have the opportunity to gain a deeper insight into my clinical approach. Into why I do what I do. My theoretical framework. There has not been a single “eureka!” moment. It’s more like an unfolding process, an evolving awareness of […]

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Mommy Mondays: Grant Me Patience

October 23, 2012
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I love to do things with my kids. Well…most things. Do you know the one thing I can’t stand to do with them? The one thing that I try to avoid whenever possible? Grocery shopping. I am generally a patient person, but when it comes to going to the grocery store with my kids, my […]

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