Thanksgiving: It's a Great Time to Start a Daily Practice of Gratitude
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Thanksgiving: It's a Great Time to Start a Daily Practice of Gratitude

For several years I’ve joined the Fox 4 Morning Show on Thanksgiving morning. We usually have a fun morning with a lot of food and everyone kind of just cutting loose in the studio, all on camera. But this year, as with all things COVID, we got together via Zoom, the reduced crew in the…

Talking with Kids about COVID-19: Up to Date with Steve Kraske:
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Talking with Kids about COVID-19: Up to Date with Steve Kraske:

Here’s the discussion from my March appearance on Up to Date with Steve Krakse in it’s special COVID-19 time slot. We talk about how to explain social distancing to kids of all ages, why folks with anxiety may actually be doing better right now than less anxious peers, how to create safe social interactions for…

Let's Toss New Years Resolutions and Replace Them with A Willingness List
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Let's Toss New Years Resolutions and Replace Them with A Willingness List

One of the key concepts in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is to give up avoiding our painful feelings and learn to embrace them, while learning to make decisions based on what we value. As I was working up a topic for the final Fox 4 Morning Show of 2019, I realized how New Years resolutions…

Moving from Sex Talk to Sex Conversation
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Moving from Sex Talk to Sex Conversation

Here’s the material from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) I discussed on the air (listen to attached clip), with the annotations taken from our slowly forthcoming book Consent-Based Sex Education to be released in 2020 (finally!) Key Concept I: Human Development Goals: Help children[1] to appreciate their bodies. Provide information about…

Understanding How A Teen's Conflict in Gender Identity Can Come Out Pretty Great
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Understanding How A Teen's Conflict in Gender Identity Can Come Out Pretty Great

In this segment of Up to Date with Steve Kraske, I’m joined by Peter, a twenty-four-year-old transman who recently underwent top surgery–the removal of breast tissue to to confirm gender. I’ve known Peter for many years and have watched him on his journey from insecure and dysphoric teen to confident and hopeful young adult. As…

Let's Leave the Politics Behind in Understanding the Seriousness of #MeToo
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Let's Leave the Politics Behind in Understanding the Seriousness of #MeToo

I don’t care who you believe in the whole Kavenaugh and Blasey Ford situation. You’re entitled to your interpretation of the facts and your opinion of the various parties and the motives, and I’m entitled to mine. I’ve done forensic psychology long enough to have seen every side of cases like this. In the vast…

Teacher Salary and the Duty Day: Is It Really For the Kids?
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Teacher Salary and the Duty Day: Is It Really For the Kids?

As long as I’ve been married to a teacher (on our wedding day, Reagan was just starting his second term) I’ve heard about the duty day, and to be honest, I’ve never quite understood it. I mean I understand that teachers have a contract with their employer (the school district) and it says that they…