Dealing with Grief During Adolescence

Dr. Robin Ohringer has over 40 years of experience in psychotherapy, and heads a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she sees patients facing many different psychological issues. For instance, Dr. Robin Ohringer helps adolescents dealing with the death of loved ones, as well as adults who lost loved ones during their adolescence.

While losing a close family member or friend is difficult for anyone, teenagers find dealing with such a loss especially traumatic. A number of factors contribute to this. For instance, many teenagers face losses that are sudden, especially in the case of the death of peers. And all losses in general can feel traumatic and unexpected to a person of this age.

Additionally, teenagers may have a harder time dealing with their grief because they often isolate themselves from others. Rather than reaching out to others for comfort and talking about their feelings, as younger children might, teenagers might feel uncomfortable revealing their emotions. They might also fear becoming a topic of discussion by their peers. As a result, they often project a false sense of normalcy to those around them. With so many challenges to dealing with their grief, many teenagers can benefit from talking to a mental health professional during this difficult time.

3 Simple Tips for Parenting as a Single Mother

Dr. Robin Ohringer possesses more than four decades of experience as a psychotherapist and has advanced training in several treatment modalities including family therapy and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Some of the patients Dr. Robin Ohringer that assists are women who are facing issues including parenting as single mothers.

Being a single parent presents many challenges and responsibilities. Consider the following helpful tips for successfully parenting as a single mother.

1. Establish good communication with your child. Affirm to your child that it is acceptable to feel a range of emotions and encourage honesty when expressing feelings. Spend time talking with the child and help him or her adjust to situations and understand different emotions.

2. Redefine your priorities. Many single mothers feel the immense pressure of maintaining a perfect home in addition to working. However, being realistic about setting new priorities and expectations for what can be accomplished in a day helps to reduce this pressure.

3. Integrate relaxation into your life. Single mothers need to make time to care for themselves to stay healthy and energized, which in turn helps them be better parents. Involvement in volunteer work, fitness activities, or other interests helps single mothers build an identity separate from their role as a mother.