Staff, APPS

Parenting Teens: A Local Psychologist’s Guide to Staying Sane Imagine the scene: You’re idling in the school pickup line, heart full, ready to hear about the day. Your teenager climbs in, tosses their backpack like it’s made of lead, and the “interrogation” begins. You: “Hey! How was your day?” Them: “Fine.” You: “How was the math test?” Them: “I don’t know.” You: “Anything interesting happen at lunch?” Them: (Sighs, checking a phone) “No.” You: “Do you have a lot of homework tonight?” Them: “Maybe.” The silence that follows is so heavy you could hang your coat on it. You wonder [...]

Raising a Two-Marshmallow Kid in Loudoun County -- A Community of Many Stories If you’ve ever heard of the “marshmallow test,” you might remember the classic experiment where children were offered one marshmallow now or two if they waited. The ability to delay gratification -- choosing a future reward over an immediate one -- has long been tied to persistence, emotional regulation, and long-term success. But what does it mean to raise a “two-marshmallow kid” in a place like Loudoun County, where some children rarely have to wait for much of anything, yet others face real and ongoing challenges? In [...]

Dr. Mike, My husband and I are in our 50s, and we’ve been married for 28 years.  Grown kids all successfully launched finally, doing very well in our careers, but something is missing for me.  I’m going through menopause, I’ve gained weight, I’m drinking red wine every night, and I find myself wondering, “Is this it?”  Not sure what to do to make things better, but between the empty house and menopause and getting older with all that has to offer, I’m not in a great place.  I don’t think my husband is either since he seems to be in [...]

Dr. Mike, Our son is 7 years old.  His teacher contacted us to discuss the school doing an evaluation on him since he is having attention problems, hyperactivity and behavior problems, and language learning problems in the classroom.  She also said that he seems to get anxious socially with the other kids often.  She suggested that he may be dyslexic given his struggles with reading and writing, and she said the evaluation they do would identify that if he is.  My husband and I are hesitant to have our son evaluated because we don’t want to label him in the [...]