5 Reasons Perfectionists Never Achieve Their New Year’s Resolutions

It’s not because you’re weak! “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” —Japanese proverb The statistics aren’t promising: Only 8 percent of the people who make New Year’s resolutions actually achieve their goals. Since my resolutions don’t seem to change much from one year to the next, with only varying degrees of progress each time, I…

My Parents Don’t Trust Me!

Helping kids establish (or re-establish) trust with parents Excerpted and adapted from High School’s Not Forever by Dr. Jane Bluestein and Eric Katz, MSAC (2005, Health Communications, Inc, Deerfield Beach, FL). This piece was written for teens and young people, and is included on this site for parents, teachers, counselors, coaches, and others who work with…

Educators at Risk

Characteristics of educators at risk: * Feels personally responsible for a student’s successes and failures Measures personal success or failure by student behavior and achievement, or by approval from others Has an overwhelming need to avoid conflict and generate approval from others (which can manifest as attention-seeking, maintaining status quo, or even rebelliousness) Willing to…

Dr. Bluestein’s Original Reprint Series

New Life for Old (and Not-so-Old) Books   In the world of publishing, it is not unusual for books to have a natural life cycle. When two of my publishers downsized, several of my books went out of print. Getting the rights back to this content has allowed me to set up this new Original…

37 Ways to Spread Love On Random Acts Of Kindness Day (& Every Other Day, Too!)

Share your good vibes with the world. by Dr. Jane Bluestein No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. — Aesop Think of the times you’ve been on the receiving end of someone’s courtesy, thoughtfulness, or patience — and how good it felt to get a call from an old friend or when that…

Tired of Nagging Your Kids?

Here’s What you Can Do Instead You’ve probably heard them all. “Awww, Mom!!” “Do I have to.” Or my all-time favorite, “You can’t make me!” Or maybe your kids’ routines are more along the lines of pouting, arguing, ignoring you (or agreeing and then ignoring you). Either way, in the day-to-day dealings with children, there…