Izmir, 2020. Children may turn to various ways of expressing their needs and wants and articulating themselves. As adults, when a child chooses ways like crying or whining to express themselves, we can see our way forward more clearly in finding a solution. But there is another important way children sometimes choose to express themselves — one that leaves us feeling stuck, and that runs counter to our values: lying. Children usually learn to lie around age three. At this age, children cannot...

Nijmegen, the Netherlands, 2015. Disagreements sometimes arise in the parent-child relationship. If we were to sum up parents' complaints about their children in a single sentence, I think that sentence would be 'My child doesn't listen to me.' Rather than simply being an offhand remark, this sentence actually carries many underlying messages that point to a need to adjust the parent-child relationship. From what I've observed in my sessions with families, the sentence 'My child doesn't...

Akhisar, 2020. Writing is the most beautiful way to reflect one's feelings. My husband and I are moving to Canada. In my last days before leaving Akhisar T-Type Closed Penal Institution, I wrote down what I was feeling on the back pages of my interview notebook, so as to leave myself a keepsake. These entries were written in the lawyer visitation rooms arranged for the Psycho-Social Service, so that we could carry out our interviews safely under pandemic conditions. I like to note things in...

Paris, 2015. It's well known that when common emotions such as anger, sadness, fear, joy, and anxiety are expected to last a long time, or when they actually do last a long time, changes in eating behavior tend to occur. All of these emotions, regardless of the direction of the effect, can noticeably change our eating speed, food choices, chewing speed, the amount we eat, and our desire to eat. The change that occurs in a person's appetite due to emotional stress is not the same for everyone....

Canada, 2022. Coping with emotions—trying to regulate or change them—is, whether we notice it or not, one of the most important undertakings of our daily lives. In days that seem to consist of repeating routines—waking up in the morning, reviewing the day's plans, following our routines, meeting our basic needs, completing tasks, and socializing—our emotions often fluctuate in unpredictable ways. Even on an ordinary day that fits our routine and resembles the one before, unpleasant emotions...