Imposter syndrome occurs when despite achievements and despite what other people may think, you feel that you have no idea what you are doing and soon or later others will find out. This feeling is common experience for many, and can make it really hard to believe in yourself and be confident in your skills. My personal journey and my work with clients led me to identify some tips that can be helpful if you are overwhelmed by imposter syndrome.

As a psychologist doing therapy and psychological assessments (also called psychological evaluations) with children, I often have parents asking me when they should seek a psychological assessment for their child. These are some considerations that may help clarify when a psychological assessment is needed

Here we are, summer just ended and hopefully we had a bit of time for re-charging. If this is the case, you may feel motivated to start the fall in a different way and make self-care an important part of your everyday life, instead of an afterthought you have once you are done with everything else. Here are some tips to help you achieve a lifestyle more conducive to self-care:

Families went through many transformations over the centuries. In the last decades, in the United States and in other countries in the world, same sex partners gained the opportunity to legally constitute a family, by marrying each other and raising children.  An ample body of research highlights that children raised by same sex parents fare just as well as children raised by heterosexual parents, despite the discrimination they may experience.

As a parent and a clinician, I am aware that there are many moments when we don’t feel that we are our best self. When we are impatient with our kids at 7am while getting them ready for school, when we are exhausted at the end of the day and cannot wait for them to go to bed…In these moments, we often are sad and frustrated at ourselves for showing a “dark” side we did not know we have.

Just like December, summer is a time when we tend to make an assessment of how our life and year is going. Are things going well? Do you need a holiday or a break? This is also a time when we are reminded that if we are feeling stressed we need to work on taking care of ourselves to be able to be present for others.

One of the reasons I love my clinical work, is that I continue to learn every day, no matter how much experience I gain. There are always clients that teach me something new. Not just because a new client may push me to learn new treatments tools, but also because working with clients I constantly learn new things about our experience as human beings. Here are some of the things that I discovered:

Today’s society pays much more attention to raising children and fostering their development relative to the past. Parents have more resources they can rely on and knowledge about children’s wellbeing than they used to, and more and more scientific evidence points to early child-rearing  as being central in human development. This emphasis on children’s development though, may have the negative effect of promoting judgment towards other parents who are not making the same choices as us.

Summer is getting close and for some of us who moved away, this means having time to go back. You may be going back to your hometown or to your home country. Just like adapting to a new place can be stressing, going back can also be just as emotionally taxing. Here are some things to keep in mind while approaching your time back home:

As an expert on attachment and a therapist passionate about helping clients through life transitions, parenthood is a topic that is particularly close to my heart. I believe that before trying to teach parents strategies to create healthy attachment or address any problem that may arise in the relationship with children, it is important to debunk some myths, that contribute to set unrealistic expectations on parenting and make parents feel inadequate and guilty.

I talked here about the importance of not underestimating the stress of adapting to life in a new place, particularly if you moved to a new country.

What is about living in a different country that can be so stressing? 

Being in a new country may feel exciting and liberating at first, because you have the chance to make life choices that for various reasons were not possible in your home country. After a few months, however, the awareness that you left for good may sink in.

If you think this is the time for therapy, what should you do next? Finding the right therapist may feel overwhelming and at times is one of the reasons why people end up not seeking therapy. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you through this process:

We are all unique with our history and personality, so there is no set rule, time or situation that should necessarily lead to therapy (also called counseling). In my experience doing psychotherapy with adults and children, these are some of the situations that lead clients to seek therapy:

Part of fostering a secure attachment and healthy relationships with children is the delicate balance between sheltering them from unnecessary stress but at the same time showing that they can talk with us about their worries. So how can you walk this fine line when it comes to sharing tragic events in the news with your children? Each family is different and each caregiver knows what is best for their child, but here are some considerations that can be helpful to keep in mind.

7 THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU FEEL LONELY IN A NEW CITY

You moved to a new city. You have a job and a place to stay. Now what?

As an Italian woman who moved to the United States a little less than 10 years ago, I often think about what it means to live in a new place (and in my case a new country too). On one hand, moving to a different city may feel exciting, as we discover million of new things and have the chance to get out of our usual paths. On the other hand, there are moments when we may feel lonely, distant from what is really meaningful for us and more vulnerable to stress. Here are some strategies that helped me when I was going through one of these low moments and that I also found helpful for my clients in therapy when they struggle to adjust to a new place.