“I don’t know what to do. No matter what, my son doesn’t do what I say just because I’m the one who said it.” As a therapist, I hear this a lot in my office, and I have also struggled with this as a parent. We love our kids, and we want to care for and guide them in ways that are good for them. Our children, however, push consistently to make their own decisions. The question my clients are asking is, “What do I do?”

Life is streaked with a rainbow of emotions. Some we are quite fond of while we would rather avoid others like the plague. Our lives are filled with events, situations, and experiences which create droplets of chemicals within our brains that provide us with those feelings. Some people think it would be wonderful if we only experienced emotions that felt good. Others want the complete opposite where they would choose to only experience life through terms of logic.