Is Nature Art Preferred or Therapeutic For Kids?

Research over the years has consistently shown that, for adults in health care settings, displaying art can improve mood and reduce stress. In addition, the majority of adults have also been found to consistently prefer representational nature art over abstract images.  This phenomenon has been shown to be true of adults all over the world. Even in parts of the world where mountains and particular animals are not part of the everyday landscape, adults who are given a choice routine select this kind of nature art over other subject matter. However, as is typical to many areas of research, the same preferences and effects have not been studied in children.

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Anatomy of “No Time for Flash Cards” (Episode 98)

Allison McDonald, No Time for Flash Cards

Doctors Brian and Giuseppe talk with Allison McDonald, creator of No Time for Flash Cards, about experiential learning, art, the benefits of doing crafts with kids, and balancing parenting with other interests.

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Here are links to the books that Allie mentioned on the show:

Website of the Week Website of the Week: No Time for Flash Cards

Leave us a comment, or you can e-mail suggestions or questions to info@familyanatomy.com. Vote for The Family Anatomy Podcast at Podcast Alley and for the blog at Blogger’s Choice!

Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

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Have your kids witnessed bullying?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zzclef/ / CC BY 2.0

When you think about bullying, you probably think about a bully and victim. There are mental health implications of both of those roles. Victims have higher rates of mental health difficulties, such as depression and anxiety, while perpetrators have low levels of school engagement and high levels of delinquent behaviour outside school. When students are both bullies and victims, physical complaints are common, and there may be other psychiatric problems. But even though the bullies and the victims are the primary people involved, there also witnesses to bullying behaviour who may have difficulties as well. It first occurred to me that witnesses to bullying might also have some trouble after looking at a book by Barbara Coloroso called “The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander: From Preschool to High School“. Coloroso is a clinician, but there’s research to back up her idea that bystanders also suffer from witnessing bullying.

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The Power of “We”

Happy Birthday Lisa by Lachlan Hardy

Psychologists often talk about finding the right balance in life. For instance, working hard but not so much that it negatively impacts your family or personal life. Or being close to others but not so close as to lose sight of where your thoughts and feelings stop and another persons’ begin. What makes this even more complicated is that the closeness or distance we feel from others depends partly on them and fluctuates over time. At the same time, there is often a misguided dichotomy that is used to discuss this issue that pits being a secure independent person against an insecure dependent one. Given that we are social creatures by nature, many argue that we need to be close to others in order to function properly and that interdependence is what we should aspire to. In an interdependent relationship, both peoples’ needs are being met. Within the context of an interdependent relationship, a couple can have fluctuating levels of both independence and dependence.

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Anatomy of Three Things (Episode 97)

Three ThingsDoctors Brian and Giuseppe talk about recent research in psychology, including:

  1. What happens to kids who witness bullying?
  2. The effect of having kids on life satisfaction
  3. The language used by couples says something about their relationship.

Listen here:

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You can also get your free podcast subscription in iTunes. If you use iTunes, you can leave a review!

Website of the WeekWebsite of the Week: Science of Loneliness

Leave us a comment, or you can e-mail suggestions or questions to info@familyanatomy.com. Vote for The Family Anatomy Podcast at Podcast Alley and for the blog at Blogger’s Choice!

Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace professional or medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

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Parenting teens: 5 Bestsellers for Parents

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moriza/ / CC BY 2.0

When your child becomes a teenager, it can feel like you need to learn how to be a parent all over again. Suddenly, the strategies you’ve used for years no longer seem to work! Dating, the emotional highs and lows, strange sleep patterns, conflict about chores – your child is individuating, and it can be tough to know how to navigate your changing relationship. Luckily, you’re not alone – there are shelves of books about parenting teens. Here are 5 best-sellers from Amazon:

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Can Teen Romantic Love Reduce Crime?

Young love : sharing music a moment in time by tibchris

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arcticpuppy/ / CC BY 2.0

Parents are often worried about their teens’ involvement in dating relationships and sexual activity. Given the potential consequences and risks, their concerns are perfectly understandable. At the same time, parents need to be aware that preaching restraint and hoping that kids will not fall in love and become sexually active until marriage, is naive at best and dangerous at worst. Teens need our guidance and support even when they behave in ways we do not approve of. While a great deal of research looks at the negative consequences of teen dating and sexual activity, researchers from the University of California-Davis have been looking into the positive aspects of teen romance.

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Anatomy of Childhood Crushes (FA Retro)

True Love by aussiegall

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/ / CC BY 2.0

Doctors Brian and Giuseppe talk about childhood and teenage crushes.

Listen here:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

… or right click here to save the episode for later.

You can also set up free automatic downloads in iTunes. If you use iTunes, you can leave a review!

Leave us a comment, or you can e-mail suggestions or questions to info@familyanatomy.com. Vote for The Family Anatomy Podcast at Podcast Alley and for the blog at Blogger’s Choice!

Note: Posts on Family Anatomy are for education only, and are not intended to replace medical advice. If you need to talk to someone about family or mental health issues, you can get a referral from your family doctor.

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Talking to kids about sexuality

Kids have questions about sex, and they often start asking early. From “Where do babies come from?” to “How come boys stand up when they pee?”, many parents quickly learn that the “birds and the bees” talk that they hoped to put off until adolescence isn’t going to be enough! Even if you dread the questions (especially when they’re asked in the grocery store checkout line), it’s possible to be somewhat prepared and to establish lines of communication that will become essential when your child is a teen or young adult. Although families vary in their comfort level and the information they want their kids to have, I think many parents hope that their children will come to them for information rather than relying on their peers. So, what kind of questions can parents expect, and how should they respond?

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Getting With the Program: Sexuality Education in the 21st Century

For several decades, a debate over when, what and even if to teach sex education to youth has ranged on. However, polarizing debates are not helpful to parents who, at the least want to minimize health risks to their children, and at most want their kids to grow up to have a healthy, life affirming attitude toward sex.

Comprehensive sexuality education involves teaching youth about abstinence while also educating them about contraception. At the same time, it goes beyond this narrow understanding of sex – hence the term “sexuality education” as opposed to “sex education” – to include areas such as basic biological processes, the psychology of relationships, and the sociology of the family.

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