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Depression in Children: What Should Parents Do?

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Posted on September 2nd, 2021 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

If your child is experiencing negative feelings that persist to the point that they are not functioning properly, then they might be suffering from a depressive disorder. According to the Centers for Disease Control and […]

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How to Handle the Holidays (COVID-style) with Your Family

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Posted on November 19th, 2020 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

The holidays this year will be different than ever before. COVID considerations will have to play into every decision we make about our plans. Are you willing to get into an airplane, or will you […]

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What’s the Point of Family Therapy?

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Posted on January 15th, 2020 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Family conflict is a part of life. There is no family without some level of discord and disagreement. And most families survive intact despite it. However, in some families the level of conflict is elevated […]

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Why Don’t My Adult Children Want to Talk to Each Other?

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Posted on August 14th, 2019 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

There are many reasons adults may decide to stop talking to their siblings. Old wounds from their childhood interactions are a major culprit, as are ongoing personality differences that cause friction. Often a major life event will lead to a break, such as a Thanksgiving dinner gone awry, or, regrettably, the death of a parent and the inheritance squabbles that can ensue.

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Why Don’t My Adult Children Want to Talk to Me?

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Posted on July 22nd, 2019 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

In our last post I offered some ideas on how parents can go about reconnecting with adult children who have become distant and disconnected. In this post I’d like to talk a bit more about […]

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How Do I Repair My Relationship with My Adult Child?

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Posted on June 20th, 2019 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

You spent decades of your life raising your children. You poured your love, time, effort, and money into giving them the best life you could. Sure, you made mistakes along the way, but you tried […]

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The 5 Things You Need for Family Therapy to Work

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Posted on May 13th, 2019 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

There’s been conflict in your family for some time now, and you’re ready to finally get some professional help with it. Strong personalities within a family can make it very hard to change the system […]

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Good Job is Not Enough

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Posted on August 9th, 2018 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

It is generally accepted in today’s generation of parents that praise and encouragement are the tools of choice in childrearing rather than some past methods such as yelling, shaming, and, of course, whupping. Praise and […]

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Making Your Marriage a Priority

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Posted on May 8th, 2018 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Recently I was interviewed on the radio to discuss the question of how to prioritize your relationship with your spouse vs. your kids. You can listen to the 20-minute segment here. Here’s the spoiler: I […]

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We’ve Moved! And It’s Not Easy

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Posted on April 17th, 2018 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Change is hard. This is a truth I live by professionally, but it is also a reality in my personal life.  This week we are moving to a new office, and I must admit that […]

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A Simple Parenting Tool – Stories

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Posted on June 5th, 2017 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

I’d like to share with you a handy parenting tool that is easier to use than it might sound.  It’s nothing brilliant or novel – just one of those things sitting under your nose all […]

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The Five Love Languages

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Posted on January 9th, 2017 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

The Five Love Languages® is a great tool for improving relationships, whether you’re at the beginning of a new relationship or you’ve been married for decades.  It is a very simple and understandable method of […]

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Family Therapy: Parental Transitions

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Posted on September 26th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

In the previous post we cited a number of examples of role changes that can lead to conflict in the home and the importance of family therapy for managing these transitions.  There we focused primarily […]

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Mothers & Daughters: Changing Roles

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Posted on September 8th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Why do relationships between mothers and daughters that are warm, loving, and peaceable turn into battlegrounds of conflict and frustration?  What happens that causes such a drastic change, often in so short a time? The […]

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Family Therapy: Parents & Children

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Posted on August 24th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

We frequently get calls for family therapy, specifically regarding troubled mother/daughter relationships.  These include young parents with school- or preschool-aged children, middle-aged women with their teenage/young adult daughters, and even up to elderly women who […]

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The Kids Were Difficult Tonight

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Posted on July 6th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

An amazing thing happened in my house last night. I was out for the evening, and I came home to find a tired but relatively cheerful wife and three sleeping children. This is what I […]

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A Letter to Mom

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Posted on June 2nd, 2016 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Yes, this is an actual picture of me at something like 15 and my real-life mom. I believe we’re on a biking trip in one of the Carolinas.  The exceptionally poor quality is due to […]

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How In-Laws Can Support a Marriage

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Posted on May 12th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Parents-in-law have been known to cause grief in many a marriage, but they can also be of tremendous help to it.  In this article I touch on just a few important notes for how parents […]

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Do You Have a Family Member with Borderline Personality Disorder?

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Posted on March 31st, 2016 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

It is not uncommon for us to field calls from people looking to get help for someone other than themselves. One common category of such callers is the family member of someone with borderline personality […]

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The Best Gift You Can Give Your Children – Part 4

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Posted on January 27th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

The last piece I’m going to post on the topic of why a good marriage is the best gift we can give to ours kids is probably the simplest: 4. It’s just nicer to live […]

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The Best Gift You Can Give Your Children – Part 3

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Posted on January 11th, 2016 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Continuing on in our exploration of why a good marriage is so vital to your childrearing endeavors, here is reason #3: 3. They’ll do as you do. Jimmy’s parents were called into school, where Jimmy […]

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The Best Gift You Can Give Your Children – Part 2

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Posted on December 28th, 2015 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

In the last post, I opened up the topic of why a good marriage is good parenting and discussed the issue of household stability. Here is reason #2 that the best gift you can give […]

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The Best Gift You Can Give Your Children

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Posted on December 20th, 2015 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

When I get a call from parents seeking help with problems with their children, it is not uncommon that a large portion of the work actually needs to happen with the parents themselves. Unrealistic expectations, […]

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The Only Thing I Can Give to My Daughter That Matters

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Posted on July 14th, 2015 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

I recently posted an article on Kveller.com, a site I enjoy sharing my personal experiences on. Check out my fun and educational story of the day I spent one-on-one with my four year old! http://www.kveller.com/the-only-thing-i-can-give-to-my-daughter-that-matters/ […]

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Assertiveness in Relationships

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Posted on July 1st, 2015 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Everyone has things they want and need out of the relationships they are in. Most people recognize that aggressive behavior is not a good way to get those things while maintaining the relationship at the […]

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My New Favorite Parenting Expert!

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Posted on June 1st, 2015 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

I recently chanced across an article by Andrea Nair and was so appreciative of it that I looked her up and ended up finding dozens more really helpful articles.  I agree with almost everything she […]

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Modern Communication Tools for Parents

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Posted on May 28th, 2015 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

This morning while dropping my kids off at school I spotted a mom driving her minivan into the carpool line while talking on a handheld cellphone.  I don’t know what the laws are in other […]

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Free-Range Parenting

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Posted on May 4th, 2015 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

A local Maryland couple in the news has once again raised discussion and debate about the free-range parenting movement.  Read more about it, including my opinions as quoted therein, at http://jewishtimes.com/36553/free-range. Learn more about our […]

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Mother Trouble

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Posted on April 22nd, 2015 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Check out our new video about one of our unique specialties – helping adults manage their relationships with their own parents!  We hear a lot of complaints about this kind of issue out in the […]

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How to Get Your Kids to Brush Their Teeth (and Other Stories)

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Posted on January 4th, 2015 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

My latest parenting article in the Where What When: Let me start with this question: How do you get your kids to brush their teeth every night? http://www.wherewhatwhen.com/article/how-to-get-your-kids-to-brush-their-teeth-and-other-stories Learn more about our parenting support services […]

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Between Parents & In-Laws

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Posted on October 19th, 2014 By Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C

Here is a recent column of mine that appeared in a local newspaper discussing a common issue that comes up in families. While this person may or may not be a candidate for family therapy, […]

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