Author Archives: Richard Niolon PhD

Lost Boys

Why our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them by James Garbarino, Ph.D. — Book Review by Richard Niolon Ph.D. James Garbarino, Ph.D. is Co-Director of the Family Life Development Center, and a Professor of Human Development at Cornell University. He has authored or coauthored over 15 books on children, worked with children […]

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I’m Not Crazy About eCollege Either: So Now What?

In “ReWork,” Fried and Hansson (2010) advocate an active approach to shaping your work environment, suggesting you “scratch your own itch” My “itch” was that I felt eCollege was missing a few things: It desperately needs a searchable and better organized interface for the “Google Generation.” It desperately needs better course design tools that are […]

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Families and Substance Abuse

This was a presentation to social workers based upon requests to know more about substance abuse and dysfunctional families. So How Does Substance Abuse Cause Changes In the Family? Drugs and alcohol are substances that alter people by producing changes in: Aggression – Research shows that substance abuse is not a risk factor for many […]

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Research in Family Therapy

I think of family therapy models as being on a continuum from “theory based” to “research based.” Of course, most models fall somewhere in between, rather than at the extremes, but the distinction is not that different than that seen in individual therapy, with psychodynamic falling more toward the theory based end, and cognitive behavioral […]

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Emotion Focused Therapy for Couples

Review of Susan Johnson and Leslie Greenberg’s Approach to Couples Therapy Notes from my Couples Therapy Class To hear you say my name, to see you search my eyes… To feel you touch my hand, it more than satisfies. If I was not the first, just say I’ll be the last. It’s too much to […]

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Dysfunctional Families

What do we know about parents from maltreating families? They are often socially isolated, and have little emotional and financial support. Depression is a common factor in the neglect of children; Chaffin and colleagues found in a study of over 7,000 parents in five major cities that depressed parents are 3 times more likely to […]

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Defenses

Following is a list of defenses and some information about them. The list is not exhaustive, but covers the big ones. Displacement One way to avoid the risk associated with feeling unpleasant emotions is to displace them, or put them somewhere other than where they belong. A common example is being angry at your boss. […]

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Dysfunctional Relationships

What is a dysfunctional relationship? A dysfunctional relationship is one where two people make an emotional “contract” and agree to meet each other’s needs in what end up being self-destructive ways: Example 1: I feel unable to take care of myself, you feel inadequate. If you take care of me, I’ll make you feel better […]

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Domestic Violence – Types, Theories, and Assessment

Domestic violence in heterosexual relationships is a serious issue, with 20% of women reporting they have been assaulted by their partners, and this is true among married adult women as well as dating college women (IPARV, 2002). Stats are that 3 in 10 couples walking the street have had a violent episode at some point […]

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“Dr. Laura” – The Mental Health Demon

Media personality “Dr. Laura” Schlessinger once wrote a commentary Evil Among Us in March 1999, and discussed it on her radio show. This was her response to a research study about child sexual abuse, conducted by a scholar named Rind, and published by the American Psychological Association. “Dr. Laura” stirred up fans, who contacted politicians, […]

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