Advice for Parents by Doris Smeltzer

Allowing others to “make” us feel responsible

Not too long ago, in the psychological community, the first step in treating someone suffering with an eating disorder was to attempt to perform a “parentectomy.”  It is now generally understood that when parents are educated to the ways in which they can help, they can be the most valuable first line of defense in their child’s healing process.  The world of psychology has come a long way in seeing the value of parent involvement in the treatment of eating disorders.

Musings triggered by mosquitoes

When Guillain-Barré Syndrome hit our daughter Jocelyn last year we had to cancel our flight to Florida and our first-ever cruise.  While going through paperwork a few weeks ago, I came across the cancelled flight information.  The refund had to be used by June 4th or it would be lost. Thus we found ourselves in Raleigh, North Carolina last week for a quick get-away to an especially green and lush part of the country that we’d never before seen.