Emotional Development

It's very normal for a young child to express preference for one parent or primary caretaker.

What's the best way to support a teenager who has lost his best friend?

A parent seeks reassurance that she explained Grandpa's death to her son in an appropriate way.

A young teen needs some skilled, compassionate therapy after losing his best friend to leukemia.

Give your child permission to be creative in telling "pretend stories" to you.

The gore and violence in horror genre movies are not conducive to the healthy development of a preadolescent.

Our expert gives his opinion about allowing a four-year-old to watch alien-type horror/suspense movies or "Godzilla-type" shows.

You don't need to send a child to preschool to prepare her for kindergarten.

A seven-year-old who experiences the death of a classmate needs empathy, kindness, and understanding.

A parent wonders if she should be concerned about her son's "perverse nature."

After losing her husband to a horrible battle with cancer, a mother wonders how to help her traumatized son.

When a child seem young for his age, his teachers should be able to individualize in a way that will make the boy feel good about himself.

Our expert gives some advice on how to help a young man deal with the loss of his father.

Some thumb sucking is common with a third or more of preschool children, and an even smaller percentage of early elementary-aged children.

What can you say to children ages three and five about their grandmother dying?

No matter how "cool" a nice pair of glasses look on a teen, he may have trouble suddenly looking like a "four-eyes."

If a father thinks that displays of emotion are unmanly or wimpy, his young son will learn to hide his feelings.

An expert explains why punishing a child for refusing to sleep in his own bedroom will not change his behavior.