Family
Caring for aging parents without burning out
Taking care of an aging mom or dad is an act of love — and a heavy load. Research on caregiver stress, warning signs of burnout, and where to find support in the US.
Mind Well Media — relationships, family, parenting and emotional health
Military families
How to support a child whose parent died in military service
Losing a mom or dad in the military is a profound loss. Research on bereaved children shows what helps them grieve — and when to get extra support.
Family
Why family dinners matter for kids
Eating together three or more times a week is linked to healthier eating and fewer eating problems in kids. Here’s what research says and how to make it work in a busy week.
FamilyExplainer
What does it mean to see the family as a system?
Why does one person’s stress ripple through the whole house? Family systems theory explains how roles, rules and relationships shape everyone in a family.
Family
How grandparents shape grandkids — and where to draw the line
Grandparents can be a lifeline for kids and parents. Research shows their involvement helps children’s well-being — especially in single-parent and stepfamilies.
Military families
How to get through the first months after homecoming
The homecoming is a joyful moment — and the start of a hard adjustment. Research shows what military families face after deployment and what helps.
Emotional health
How to find the right therapist
LCSW, LPC, PsyD, psychiatrist — what do the letters mean? Research shows that the relationship with your therapist matters as much as the method. Here’s how to choose.
Parenting
How to praise your child the right way
“You’re so smart” can backfire. Research by Carol Dweck and others shows which kinds of praise build motivation and resilience — and which undermine them.
Emotional health
How to beat insomnia without sleeping pills
Lying awake at 3 a.m. night after night? Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended first-line treatment. Here’s how it works.
Parenting
How much sleep does a child need?
Sleep recommendations by age from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, plus research-backed ways to solve bedtime battles and night wakings.
Military familiesExplainer
What is moral injury?
Guilt, shame and a broken sense of right and wrong after war. Moral injury is different from PTSD — and it needs a different kind of healing.
FamilyExplainer
What is parentification — when a child becomes the parent?
Cooking for siblings, comforting a depressed parent, translating bills at age ten. When a child takes on adult roles, it’s called parentification. Here’s what research says.
Military families
How is PTSD treated, and what really helps?
PTSD is treatable. Here’s what research shows about Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, EMDR and medication — and how families can support recovery.
Relationships
How to respond to your partner’s good news
How you react when your partner gets a promotion or finishes a race matters more than you think. Research on “capitalization” shows what strengthens a relationship.
Emotional healthExplainer
What is rumination, and how do you stop replaying your thoughts?
Replaying an argument for hours, asking “why me?” over and over. Rumination keeps you stuck and fuels depression. Here’s what research says and techniques that help.
Military families
Secondary trauma: when a service member’s PTSD affects the whole family
Living with someone who has PTSD can take a toll. Research shows partners and children of veterans with PTSD often have trauma symptoms and distress of their own.
Military families
Staying connected during deployment: how often to talk and what to say
Calls, video chats, messages, care packages. Research shows communication during deployment matters for service members — and that the quality of the relationship shapes its effect.
Relationships
How to support your partner in a way that actually helps
Not all support helps. Research shows that some well-meant help backfires — and that the best support is often invisible.
Military families
How to talk with your kids about a parent’s deployment
A parent’s deployment shakes a child’s world. Research on military kids shows what helps them cope — and how to talk about it at every age.
Military families
Concussion and TBI: what families need to know
Headaches, memory problems, irritability, sensitivity to light and noise. Here’s what research says about mild traumatic brain injury in service members, recovery, and how families can help.
Family
When your partner drinks too much: how to help without losing yourself
You can’t force a loved one to stop drinking, but research shows family members have more influence than they think. Here’s what works — and how to protect yourself and your kids.
Parenting
How to help your child through divorce
Most children of divorce do well in the long run. Research shows what protects them: low conflict, warm parenting and staying connected to both parents.
Family
When does a family need therapy?
Constant fights, distance, a crisis or a big transition. Here’s how to know when a family or couple could use therapy, and what research says about results.
RelationshipsExplainer
Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling: the four warning signs in a marriage
Every couple argues. What predicts divorce is how. Here’s what John Gottman’s research found about the “Four Horsemen” and their antidotes.
Latest
Family
How grandparents shape grandkids — and where to draw the line
Grandparents can be a lifeline for kids and parents. Research shows their involvement helps children’s well-being — especially in single-parent and stepfamilies.
Military families
How to get through the first months after homecoming
The homecoming is a joyful moment — and the start of a hard adjustment. Research shows what military families face after deployment and what helps.
Emotional health
How to find the right therapist
LCSW, LPC, PsyD, psychiatrist — what do the letters mean? Research shows that the relationship with your therapist matters as much as the method. Here’s how to choose.
Parenting
How to praise your child the right way
“You’re so smart” can backfire. Research by Carol Dweck and others shows which kinds of praise build motivation and resilience — and which undermine them.
Emotional health
How to beat insomnia without sleeping pills
Lying awake at 3 a.m. night after night? Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended first-line treatment. Here’s how it works.
Parenting
How much sleep does a child need?
Sleep recommendations by age from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, plus research-backed ways to solve bedtime battles and night wakings.
A family is more than a shared address. It’s a place of unconditional love, respect and safety.
Topics
Relationships: marriage and intimacy
How couples keep love, respect and closeness alive: conflict, trust, infidelity, crisis and divorce — what marriage research shows.
Family life and family dynamics
The family as a system: generations, roles, in-laws, addiction and abuse, caregiving and family therapy — grounded in research.
Parenting and child development
Child development by age, big feelings, tantrums, screens, teens, discipline without yelling — and co-parenting after divorce.
Emotional health
Anxiety, depression, burnout, sleep and self-compassion: how to take care of yourself and when to get help.
Military families and veterans
Deployment, homecoming, PTSD, moral injury, kids and separation, loss: research-based support for service members, veterans and the people who love them.
More to read
Military familiesExplainer
What is moral injury?
Guilt, shame and a broken sense of right and wrong after war. Moral injury is different from PTSD — and it needs a different kind of healing.
FamilyExplainer
What is parentification — when a child becomes the parent?
Cooking for siblings, comforting a depressed parent, translating bills at age ten. When a child takes on adult roles, it’s called parentification. Here’s what research says.
Military families
How is PTSD treated, and what really helps?
PTSD is treatable. Here’s what research shows about Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, EMDR and medication — and how families can support recovery.
Relationships
How to respond to your partner’s good news
How you react when your partner gets a promotion or finishes a race matters more than you think. Research on “capitalization” shows what strengthens a relationship.
Emotional healthExplainer
What is rumination, and how do you stop replaying your thoughts?
Replaying an argument for hours, asking “why me?” over and over. Rumination keeps you stuck and fuels depression. Here’s what research says and techniques that help.
Military families
Secondary trauma: when a service member’s PTSD affects the whole family
Living with someone who has PTSD can take a toll. Research shows partners and children of veterans with PTSD often have trauma symptoms and distress of their own.
Military families
Staying connected during deployment: how often to talk and what to say
Calls, video chats, messages, care packages. Research shows communication during deployment matters for service members — and that the quality of the relationship shapes its effect.
Emotional health
How to help someone who is thinking about suicide
Asking directly about suicide doesn’t plant the idea — it can save a life. Here’s what to say, what to do, and how a safety plan and 988 can help.
Relationships
How to support your partner in a way that actually helps
Not all support helps. Research shows that some well-meant help backfires — and that the best support is often invisible.
Military families
How to talk with your kids about a parent’s deployment
A parent’s deployment shakes a child’s world. Research on military kids shows what helps them cope — and how to talk about it at every age.
Parenting
How social media affects teens — and what parents can do
Is social media harming teens? Research shows a complicated picture: small effects on average, bigger risks for some teens, especially girls. Here’s what parents can do.
Military families
Concussion and TBI: what families need to know
Headaches, memory problems, irritability, sensitivity to light and noise. Here’s what research says about mild traumatic brain injury in service members, recovery, and how families can help.
Military families
How to help a veteran who started drinking too much
Combat deployment is linked to new heavy drinking, especially among younger service members and the Guard and Reserve. Here’s how families can help — without nagging.
Family
When your partner drinks too much: how to help without losing yourself
You can’t force a loved one to stop drinking, but research shows family members have more influence than they think. Here’s what works — and how to protect yourself and your kids.
Parenting
How to help your child through divorce
Most children of divorce do well in the long run. Research shows what protects them: low conflict, warm parenting and staying connected to both parents.
Family
Domestic violence: how to recognize it and where to get help
Abuse isn’t only hitting. Control, threats, isolation and financial abuse are domestic violence too. Here’s how to recognize it and where to turn, 24/7.
Family
When does a family need therapy?
Constant fights, distance, a crisis or a big transition. Here’s how to know when a family or couple could use therapy, and what research says about results.
RelationshipsExplainer
Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling: the four warning signs in a marriage
Every couple argues. What predicts divorce is how. Here’s what John Gottman’s research found about the “Four Horsemen” and their antidotes.
RelationshipsExplainer
Gaslighting in relationships: the signs, and how to protect yourself
“That never happened.” “You’re too sensitive.” Gaslighting makes you doubt your own memory and perception. Here’s how to recognize it and protect yourself.
Emotional healthExplainer
Parental burnout: the signs, the causes and how to recover
Exhausted, running on empty, going through the motions with your kids? Parental burnout is real, it’s different from ordinary tiredness and depression, and it’s more common in the US than in many other countries.
Parenting
What to do if your child is being bullied
About a third of kids are involved in bullying, and its effects can last into adulthood. Here’s how to spot it, how to talk to your child, and how to work with the school.
Emotional health
Postpartum depression: signs, how common it is and where to get help
Postpartum depression affects roughly one in six new mothers — and about one in ten new fathers. Here’s how to tell it from the “baby blues” and where to find help, 24/7.
Emotional health
Self-compassion: what it is and how to practice it as a parent
You yelled again. You forgot the field trip form. Self-criticism doesn’t make you a better parent — self-compassion might. Here’s what research says and how to start.
ParentingExplainer
Emotion coaching: how to help your child handle big feelings
“Stop crying” rarely works. Emotion coaching teaches parents to see a child’s feelings as a chance to connect and teach. Here are the steps and the research behind them.
Parenting
What to do when your toddler has a tantrum
Screaming in the cereal aisle, lying on the floor at the playground. Tantrums are a normal part of toddler development. Here’s what research says and what helps.
Family
How parents’ arguments affect kids — and how to fight in front of them
Not every argument harms kids. Research shows what kind of parental conflict hurts children — and how resolving it in front of them can even teach them something valuable.
Military familiesExplainer
What is PTSD, and how do you recognize it?
Nightmares, flashbacks, always being on guard, pulling away from loved ones. Here’s how post-traumatic stress disorder shows up, how common it is, and what treatment works.
Emotional health
What actually helps with anxiety?
Constant worry, a racing mind, a knot in your stomach. Here’s what research shows helps most — from CBT to exercise — and simple steps you can start today.
Parenting
How to tell if your child has an anxiety problem
All kids worry sometimes. Here’s how to tell normal fears from an anxiety disorder, how common childhood anxiety is, and which treatments work best.
Emotional health
How to recognize a panic attack — and what to do about it
A pounding heart, chest pain, the feeling you’re dying or losing control. Panic attacks are terrifying but not dangerous. Here’s how to recognize them and what treatment works.
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