Article Summaries
Deadlines & Skinny Jeans
03 June 2013
By Quinton Ellis, M.S., LPC
In my experience, deadlines are like the world’s worst ninjas. It’s not as though they just pop up in front of me, all black, silent, and awesome. No, it’s more like this particular ninja was following me all weekend, meticulously shadowing my every move. I know this because I tripped ov...
Idontcaratitis
03 June 2013
By Quinton Ellis, M.S., LPC
I keep hearing “I don’t care” from the kids. It’s usually followed by some variant of exhalation ranging from the anachronistic “harrumph” to the recently ascendant “Napoleon Dynamite”. Both responses are meant to convey frustration. Why, they wonder, do I c...
Putting Off is Easy
03 June 2013
By Quinton Ellis, M.S., LPC
Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible. ~George Claude Lorimer
I can’t say that I’m familiar with this George Claude character, but I see evidence of the wisdom of his insight on a daily basis. In fact, I’m staring at it right...
The Day After
03 June 2013
By Quinton Ellis, M.S., LPC
The day after Bedlam I went to 7-11 and picked up a newspaper. Mainly I was after the sports section, because really, who wouldn’t want to relive that glorious night? As I was rummaging through the various sections, my eyes fell upon the cover of Parade magazine. The photograph depicted a pretty yo...
Love My Job
03 June 2013
By Quinton Ellis M.S., L.P.C.
I don’t know if everyone knows this already, but talk therapy with young people has a side-effect just as frightening as those from any pill. On occasion, a young person in therapy will experience the desire to become a therapist him or herself. Yeah, I know…creepy. Of course, it’s pe...
In Praise of Low Self-Esteem
03 June 2013
By Quinton Ellis
We need to clear something up about high self-esteem in our society. Many adults, and an even higher number of our kids, are actually suffering from a state of self-satisfaction that diminishes their ability and responsibility for self-improvement through reflection. We are led to believe that life is only properly ...
The Unthinkable
31 May 2013
By Jackie White Shaw, MED, LPC, LMFT
For most of us, the idea of the sexual abuse of a child is "unthinkable". Although it is very painful to hear that a child may have been abused in this way, it is almost impossible to know that reality unless we acknowledge its existence and work to understand as much as we can of the problem. Th...
What Do You Call "Success"?
31 May 2013
By Jackie Shaw, Executive Director
Edmond Family Counseling, Inc. is celebrating 35 years of service to our community this month. Thousands of people from every type of background, every socioeconomic level, every age and circumstance have walked through our doors during those 35 years. Our agency has offered respect, support, inf...
Please Draw a Picture of a House, A Tree and a Person
31 May 2013
By: Jackie Shaw, Executive Director
In the movies a “shrink” presents his patient with a series of “Ink Blots” on 8x11 cards and asks, “Tell me what you see”. This is known as a Rorschach test. At first glance this may not seem much different from looking at clouds and describing the shapes and ...
When Food is the Enemy - Part 2
31 May 2013
There are varying theories about the cause of an eating disorder, making it difficult to attribute its cause to a single factor. Most experts agree that social influences, perceived lack of control in ones life and striving to meet unrealistic expectations can all contribute to the development of an eating disorder.
Our society is o...
Risky Business
30 May 2013
By Belinda Crosier
Risk-taking is one of the double-edged swords of development and an area in which parents are eternally trying to find the balance between encouraging healthy risks and preventing foolish, dangerous ones which unfortunately abound in adolescence. The normal state of adolescence poses a triple threat for teens ...
3 Rs: Move over for the 3 Ds!
30 May 2013
By Belinda Crosier, M.E., LPC
In the face of impulsive or thoughtless behavior by a teenager, many parents find themselves succumbing to the 3 Rs: rant, rave & rescue. This refers to any lengthy combination of lecturing, castigating, threatening & forecasting of dire outcomes designed to get a kid to change behavior. (Translated: ra...
When Food is the Enemy - Part 1
30 May 2013
By Belinda Crosier
As the holidays approach, most of us eagerly anticipate sharing tantalizing holiday foods with those near and dear to us. For the person with anorexia or bulimia, however, the holidays are synonymous with anxiety, requiring an inordinate amount of planning and ingenuity to avoid or purge the food that is so centra...
Learning Disabilities
30 May 2013
By Belinda Crosier, M.E., LPC
Few things are as gratifying or comforting as knowing our child enjoys and is successful in school. It's a much different experience if ours is the child who is struggling to learn to read, write or process information, the one who seems bright and motivated, but for some reason just isn't performing to...
Codependency: Caring Overtime
30 May 2013
By Belinda Crosier, M.E., LPC
Now that the holidays are over, the Christmas decorations are put away and our schedules are returning to a lesser frenzy, we're all basking in happy memories of the season, right? Maybe not for those of us who suffer from codependency those of us who automatically turn ourselves wrong-side out to accom...
He Said, She Said
30 May 2013
By Belinda Crosier, M.E., LPC
To expand on the previous article regarding the marital relationship, lets look further at the role of communication in satisfactory relationships. When embarking upon discussion of those topics fraught with potential for conflict or misunderstanding, we might do well to ask ourselves: Is my goal to joi...
Who's This Alien That's Invaded My Child's Body????
28 May 2013
By: Belinda Crosier
If you're a parent, it will probably happen. One day you'll find your formerly adoring, sweet-tempered child has adopted strange, new behaviors and communicates by exasperated sighs, rolled eyes and an occasional whatEVER! As you try to figure out what happened or what you did to cause this--the fear gremlin quie...
Edmond Life and Leisure Article
15 May 2013
By Quinton Ellis, M.S., LPC
Summer is fast approaching and everyone I know seems just thrilled about that. I do not share their enthusiasm. Summer is, in fact, the winter of my personal discontent. In this, I am not alone, as many of the parents of the untold millions(?) of teenagers here in Edmond struggle with all the free time th...
Parenting is a Year Round Sport!
13 April 2013
By Sheila Stinnett, LPC
As we progress through the spring months and the school year comes to a close, it is important to remember that in our job as parents we get no vacations. As students escape the daily demands of their classrooms for carefree days in neighborhoods and substitute school hallways for local malls and highways, good co...Making Resolutions vs. Making Resolutions Happen
28 December 2012
By Belinda Crosier
Something about the dawning of a brand new year seems to stir in us that urge for new-ness in other areas of our lives as well; hence the birth of New Year's resolutions a new diet or exercise plan, a new-found ability to locate things once we clean out closet-- a new US in one sense or another. I doubt I'm unusua...
