Staff, APPS

Dr. Mike, Our 18-year-old daughter went off to JMU for Freshman year this Fall, and we’re so proud of her.  She’s doing well academically and socially, but she’s upset with us for being “controlling” and for “micromanaging” her.  My husband and I told her that we would be keeping Life360 on her phone to monitor her whereabouts on campus for her first year away.  We told her that if she demonstrated maturity in making good choices, and if she gets good grades, we will then remove ourselves from Life360 for her Sophomore year and after.  She’s always been a great [...]

3 Reasons Why Social Media Shouldn’t Be Your Therapist With technology being so present in our lives these days, it can be tempting to turn our friends into virtual therapists when we are in a bad place or need help.  And while it’s perfectly fine to reach out to friends on-line for general support, it’s entirely another thing to seek guidance for larger mental health problems.  If you personally struggle with depression, anxiety, or alcoholism/substance use, or if your marriage is in trouble, or if your child isn’t doing well, etc., your problems won’t be adequately addressed on social media [...]

Dr. Mike, My husband and I have done very well financially.  Neither of us came from money or inherited anything substantial, but we’ve worked hard and have acquired quite a bit of wealth.  For context, we live in a $12,000,000 house, and we have other properties, several businesses and a large amount of money saved and invested.  My husband is adamant that we should not leave a dime to our kids, and he believes they should instead work for everything like we did.  While I agree with him that our children need to find their own way in life, and [...]

Dr Mike, Our 18-year-old daughter who is a senior in high school, is addicted to her phone, and we don’t know what to do.  The phone is always in her hand, and even though my husband and I don’t disapprove of most of what she’s doing with the phone, we also think she’s on it way too much.  We’ve tried to set limits, we’ve taken it away, we’ve talked to her, but nothing has worked.  In fact, everything we’ve tried so far has led to tension, disagreements or really bad fights.  Her position is that she gets great grades, she [...]