Mad River Behavioral Health

Square Peg, Meet Round Hole Parent Advocacy Often times it may seem as if the systems and institutions our children are required to navigate are set in place to conspire against them. *****   Children will face many challenges as they grow and develop.    There are times during which we will be required to advocate for system change on behalf of our children. The system may or may not respond in a constructive manner. Some elements may; others may not. Regardless of how the system responds, these situations also provide us with a golden opportunity to coach our children on the character strengths, values, and skills needed to successfully navigate difficult situations and systems in life. Very few systems are perfect, if any.  The vast majority of work places are mediocre, at best.   As reported in a Harvard Business Review article, a study by Life Meets Work found that 56% of American workers claim their boss is mildly or highly toxic....

Copyright All rights reserved by  Ken Little - New Hampshire “Good Judgement comes from experience, 90% of which is based on bad judgement.” (source unknown) This wisdom was taped to the kitchen cupboard in my family's kitchen throughout my adolescent years. I’m convinced it was my mother’s survival mantra; her daily reassurance that all would be well in the future, that all of the mistakes I made were guiding me toward developing good judgment. It worked and I did, but to be perfectly honest, my survival was not assured by any stretch of the imagination. Things could very easily have turned out differently, very badly in fact. Things did turn out badly for many young people growing up at the same time.  Too many of my peers during high school and in the years shortly after died, but many more were impacted by lasting and often debilitating injuries, for example: skiing dangerously, jumping off cliffs into quarries, driving dangerously, and using drugs...

It's never too late or too soon. Wherever you are in your parenting journey, whether with newborn child or young adult, begin teaching problem solving skills, thinking skills, and verbal reasoning skills. Problem Solving, Thinking, & Verbal Reasoning There are other important skills (like, how to do laundry, dishes, math, and weak-side layups), but these are the Big Three. All are skills. All are taught, coached, encouraged, trained, and ... practiced, practiced, practiced to mastery over time. Please keep in mind that skills are increased gradually, incrementally over time only through repetitive practice. Practice to mastery is the only path to skill development, the only path forward. We will work toward developing these skills (problem-solving, thinking, verbal reasoning) by practicing on a regular basis the * Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) process developed by Dr. Ross Greene. This process can and should be practiced during all routine problems and mor...