In this podcast, Jeff Horton is guest as we explore an exciting cutting edge therapy that is now being used to retrain the brain. Research is now starting to show that Neurofeedback training can retrain the brain to overcome ADHD, Depression, Trauma, and other brain disorders. It could even improve your golf game. This podcast focuses on defining Neurofeedback and how it works. If you haven’t ever heard of it, this is a great chance to learn something new.

Thanks,

West Ridge Academy

The second podcast in this series on pornography addiction, this episode asks the question, “What is the difference between pornography addiction and healthy sexuality?” Eric Allred, LMFT joins Jeff again as they discuss how pornography acts like a drug and causes brain dysfunction.

During the podcast, we mention the symptoms and effects of pornography addiction. The following is a list of these effects based on current research:

1. Not caring about women/men as real human beings; just thinking of them as objects
2. Starting to think rape isn’t a serious crime
3. Having a twisted view of sexuality (thinking of sexuality in unhealthy ways)
4. Not caring about having a long-term, stable relationship with one person (monogamous relationship)
5. Thinking your spouse isn’t a good enough sex partner
6. Beginning to think that marriage isn’t important
7. Not really caring about having children or raising a family
8. Thinking it’s normal and natural to have casual sex with many people
9. Trying out — or wanting to try out — sexual behaviors that aren’t healthy, legal, or natural (these behavior are also called sexually deviant behaviors)
10. Having a lot of struggles and problems in your close relationships
11. Thinking rape victims are the ones who are to blame for being raped and that rapists don’t need to be punished for their crimes
12.  Being much more likely to commit sexual abuse
13. Becoming sexually aggressive (violent or forceful)
14. Being more likely to get separated or divorced
15. Thinking the best sexual relationships are the ones that don’t involve emotional involvement or commitment
16. Being more likely to cheat on your spouse (emotionally and/or physically)
17. Being more likely to lose your job or get kicked out of college
18. Threatening the well-being of children in your home by straining marriage relationships, causing financial burdens, and increasing your children’s risk of being exposed to pornography
19. Starting to think that explicit or offensive sexual material isn’t that big of a deal (becoming desensitized)
20. Beginning to think that uncommon or unusual sexual activities (such as group sex or sex with animals) are normal and happen a lot
21. Losing the trust of those in close relationships
22. Developing a negative body image (thinking negatively about your body)
23. Getting wrong information about human sexual behavior
24. Being more likely to have oral, anal, or group sex
25. Being more likely to develop compulsive or addictive sexual behavior (in other words, being more likely to lose control over how often and how long you act out sexually)

Amy Whittaker, LCSW

In this podcast, West Ridge Academy Clinical Director, Amy Whittaker sits down with Jeff and discusses therapy in general. Does therapy work? What works best? In many cases a synergy occurs when a clinical problem is addressed using multiple methods. We start by discussing a recent study which found that up to half of severe mental health issues are not treated. We look at why some people resist getting therapeutic help even though it is clear that therapy is effective.  We also discuss the West Ridge multi-faceted approach to clinical issues.

As mentioned in the podcast, if you would like more information regarding Visions, you can visit their website at www.visionsteen.com.

• Changes in friends
• Changes in relationship between you and your teen.
• Sudden drop in grades
• Loss of interest in extra curricular activities
• Change in sleeping pattern

We hope that this brief discussion can help you assess whether or not your child has a problem with drugs or alcohol.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at jmurdock@wracademy.com.

Next week we will discuss what you, as a parent can do, if your teen is struggling with a substance abuse problem.

In our last podcast we talked about the prevalence of drug use by teens. Today we want to give parents information that can help them recognize if there child has a drug problem. The first podcast in this series, with Brian and Carrie, will give a few general signs that you can look for. In the next podcast we will talk about specific signs of a problem in different areas of your child’s life.

One of the biggest challenges that parents face is the disbelief that their kid could be the one involved. Brian and Carrie each share stories that will help parents understand that they are not alone in hoping that family members are not involved in these behaviors.

Today’s podcast will deal mostly with statistics. Drug use among adolescents is a difficult issue that we face in our communities.  Jeff brings in statistics about the prevalence of the use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. He also touches briefly on perscription drug abuse. The next few podcasts will focus on how you can help prevent your children from using drugs, how to recognize when your child is using drugs and how to help those who are using.

Chris has worked with a lot of teens over the years and is able to relate to them through their love of music. He has produced 3 professional CD’s that have showcased the musical talent that has come through West Ridge. The songs on the albums were performed by the students at West Ridge.

It is important for parents to understand that most parents don’t do everything well. It can be helpful to find another person that can teach your child the piece that you are missing.

Whenever we start a new activity or try to form a new habit we meet resistance. This is especially true when you try to change the your parenting style and technique. Stick with it. There will be resistance from your children. If you persist, however, you will develop new habits for your family and the new parenting style will become normal for your family.

The last piece of accountability is giving and getting feedback. Jeff talks about the importance of creating feedback loops with your children. He also discusses the importance of balancing feedback with the other 3 parenting tasks, Connecting, Empowering, and Creating Order.

Connecting
Empowering
Creating Order

The last task is taching your children accountability.

Jeff teaches us the keys that parents need to remember and teach in order to be successful in teaching your kids accountability.

Eventually you will want to turn all of the boundaries that you set into agreements. Meaning, eventually you will want to have your teens agree to the boundaries that are set by their own choice.  Jeff gives some great examples about how to set up agreements in your home.

• Parents are still the most important influence in a child’s life.
• How to know if a child is trying to split the parents and how you can work through that behavior.
• How to spot a coalition and how to stop them.

Eventually you will want to turn all boundaries that are set into agreements. The next podcast will help teach you how to do that.

• Creating an Executive System
• Boundaries
• Agreements

Jeff also shares some real world stories about parenting that his wife observed at a shoe store!

So far we have given you an overview of the four essential parenting tasks (podcasts 1-2), connecting with your child (podcasts 4 – 7), and empowering your child (podcasts 8-10). We even discussed a few different parenting styles (podcast 4).

In today’s podcast we jump right into the next essential parenting task, providing structure for your child. This podcast is just an overview of what that means.

Providing structure means helping kids determine values, providing family structure, and recognizing that order and structure help to get the necessary tasks of a family done.

Is it worth stressing out about you child having their room clean? If not, what should we stress about when in comes to providing order for our kids?

We answer these questions, and more,  in this podcast.