June 16, 2026- I strongly believe family meetings can enhance family unity and communication. This is true even in our world where we no longer always have the nuclear family and there often is one parent raising children, parents co-parenting children, or there is some combination of family members in a blended family. I would argue that regardless of the composition of the family, having family meetings on a regular basis can be very helpful. In such a fast paced world where social media and the Internet can capture the attention of children and adults for a good share of a day, it is important that there be times that families meet and discuss things related to them. I would suggest these be on a weekly basis to the point they become something that is expected and often pulls the family together when distractions separate family members from each other. Typical things that
can be gained from regular family meetings would include improving family communication by having all members communicating, allowing children and adults to discuss their feelings and make arguments about what their needs are and what is important to them, a place that is psychologically safe where everyone can share their feelings and not feel they are going to be attacked or not be listened to, observe parents modeling tolerance and understanding, everyone can have a sense of belonging, resolve conflicts that otherwise can simmer and lead to breakdowns in the family, using communication to enhance understanding in relationships, teaching children and parents alike how to listen, share home work responsibilities and work together as a team, compromise, teach leadership through parental modeling that will carryover not only from family meetings but to other relationships in life, and develop a closeness among family members that often is lacking. Parents often do not do this because life can be so hectic that it is hard to have a time when people can sit down and talk. It also happens because it does not seem to be something that is really promoted as important in our society. I am not saying that people are opposed to family meetings. No, I am simply saying it does not seem to be something that people are talking about and doing as a priority. I can say from my interactions with people in my work and life in general that family meetings are not common. It is not easy to just sit down and have family meetings. It is best they have been developed as the family was growing and became a natural thing for people to do. This is something that should happen at least once a at a time that is picked each week to get everybody together and talk. It is never too late to start. My advice is to begin trying it and see how it works out. It may be awkward initially, but the possibility of developing better family communication certainly makes it worth the effort.

June 6, 2026- Too many people live a life where everything is competitive. They see every event and situation
as a win-lose or zero-sum situation with a winner and a loser. Having a clear winner may be
reasonable in sporting events and even fair competition for a specific job where skills and
talents are evaluated in the decision process. If we exclude those kinds of situations, most
situations we encounter in life are best dealt with from a win-win perspective. This means the
goal of negotiating or bargaining is that each person gains some of what they desire to the level
of being satisfied. There is not a winner and a loser, but two winners. This requires maturity and
a desire to negotiate fairly with a goal of everyone being satisfied. In such a situation, both
persons are willing to give up something to get something in return. The end result is both have
a level of satisfaction and future negotiating will be much easier to occur. A positive mental
health outcome is that persons who want to live in a world of win-win interactions with people
are usually better liked by others and are comfortable with themselves. For clarification, we are
not talking about people who just give in and often have anger and resulting anxiety and
depression because they do not get what they desire in life. No, we are talking about well
balanced persons who try to be team players in interactions with others. Examples of win-win
situations would be equally sharing duties in a household, further education for employees that
gives them incentive to stay with the company in spite of a risk of them leaving and makes them
more valuable employees, dividing a business territory where each will offer services and not
attempt to knock out the other one, fairly sharing expenses in all endeavors, determining not to
dominate conversations and use active listening for fair and better communication, sharing work
fairly in the workplace with fellow employees, and dividing up responsibilities fairly between
owners of a company…General outcomes of win-win interactions would be that everyone has
some success and is a winner, no one feels overwhelmed or treated unfairly by someone,
relationships are much better, success is shared, opportunities for further advancement for all
often occurs through the outcomes of win-win interactions, and better mental health for persons
who do not have the desire to dominate and control others with a zero-sum outlook on life. With
this said, we also must accept and be aware that persons with the best intentions can
sometimes not come up with a win-win situation and need to indicate this and move forward
from their disagreement. This is hopefully done in good faith with a willingness to meet again if
there becomes a possibility of obtaining a win-win situation for each person.

June 2, 2026- In a nation where half of those who get married or remarried have a strong chance of divorcing, it certainly makes a lot of sense to make sure you are ready when you get married. A further negative outcome of ill advised marriages that end in divorce that is often not considered is the impact of divorce on children. It is not talked about enough, but the well documented negative results of divorce on children that include educational attainment, educational achievement, parental estrangement, economic home strength, anger and psychological issues, identity confusion, socialization issues and low self-esteem need to be taken into account when divorce is considered. From someone who has worked with married couples and individuals getting divorced over the years, a common reason divorced persons or unhappily married persons have given me when asked why they married said they were not thinking clearly about the decision. This is actually shocking when one considers how important marriage is, and how often people will spend weeks debating what type of a car or appliance to buy before they buy it, but will get married and quite possibly have children, when clearly the odds of the marriage failing are far greater.
They people do all the appropriate planning and thinking prior to getting married. Common reasons persons give for having gotten married that they now know were not good reasons would include believing they were too invested in the relationship to not marry even when loaded with doubts, too young and immature, under extreme pressure from outside persons and family to marry, educational differences, life goals, spending priorities, child rearing, spiritual differences, deciding to go contrary to what friends and family who advised them not to get married, feeling short term intense shallow love that seemed unbreakable, physical attraction that was extreme, no real knowledge of each other, rebounding from a divorce or horrible breakup, unrealistic expectations, fears of being alone, choosing to be married when not being married seems worse, and financial need and support. A simple point here is that prior to getting married, couples need to get to know each other very well and determine what the expectations for the marriage and their future include. To not do this is to greatly increase the possibility of unhappiness and divorce.