Dr. Richardson quoted in Newsweek
As an advocate for communication within families, and a super-fan of family meetings, I was so excited to be able to share my perspective on a situation where in a blended family, the younger child was given the older child's room when they moved out without a family discussion. In the situation given to me, one parent made a unilateral decision to give the room to the younger child without consulting the other parent or the child who was moving out. While this might have been a great decision, the process of making this decision was the reason the other parent was upset. Instead (and as we stress in our adolescent program) having family meetings regularly, getting input an brainstorming from everyone involved, and then making the decision is a much more effective process and will reduce unnecessary conflict. We encourage our families to have family meetings regularly to discuss issues and create solutions that work.
