Dr. Tali Shenfield holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto and is a licensed school and clinical psychologist. She has taught at the University of Toronto and has worked at institutions including the Hospital for Sick Children, Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, TDSB, and YCDSB. Dr. Shenfield is the Founder and Clinical Director of Advanced Psychology Services.
Frequent interruptions are a fact of life for the parents of young children. Preschool-aged kids seldom wait for their turn to speak, even when their parents are occupied with an activity or speaking to someone else. Though this behaviour can feel disruptive, it’s not intentionally rude; toddlers are only just emerging from infancy, so they still think that the ...
Have you ever wondered why your child lacks the same “internal manager” you have? Why he (or she) struggles to stay on track with everyday tasks, like doing homework or chores? Why he sometimes has difficulty completing even purely voluntary projects? You may know that he behaves this way because his brain isn’t yet fully developed, but many parents ...
Every parent shares the same priority: They just want their child to be happy. They know, of course, that no one can realistically remain happy all of the time, but this doesn’t make them any less protective of their child’s well-being. Naturally, then, few things are as distressing as realizing one’s child is persistently sad. Though worry ...
Many people are under the impression that verbally adept children naturally thrive at school. We know that most programs of study strongly favour verbal learning styles (as opposed to visual learning styles), so we assume that verbally gifted children won’t face the same challenges as other children. This is, at least partially, true; however, research indicates that verbally gifted ...
For centuries, parents were taught that effective child-rearing consists of rewarding good behaviour while punishing bad behaviour. Parents assumed that this would teach their children self-control, and having excellent self-control would allow them to resist temptation and act appropriately. Today, we know human behaviour isn’t that black and white. Kids usually act out not because they want to misbehave ...
Does music help people with ADHD focus? Research indicates that it can provide significant benefits. People with ADHD often struggle with concentration, distractibility, and emotional control. However, studies show music activates networks across the brain that positively impact these areas. Music’s ability to instill inner peace has been noted since ancient times. Over 3000 years ago, Chinese philosophers first developed ...
Few stages in life are as dreaded as puberty. Parents worry that during these turbulent years, their sweet, thoughtful child will be replaced by a defiant, moody adolescent. However, while it’s true that the brain pushes children in this age bracket to assert their independence, there’s no reason why your relationship with your child has to deteriorate. On ...
The behaviour of teenagers is notoriously baffling. One moment, our adolescents appear to be mature, rational people—true “young adults.” The next moment, they’re taking foolish, inexplicable risks or having dramatic emotional meltdowns. In the past, these vacillations were written off as being the product of out of control hormones. However, modern research has shown that the roots of ...
While most of the issues adopted children face while growing up differ little from the challenges experienced by non-adopted children, ...
The human brain processes all sensory information whether or not you are fully aware of it. Most children are able ...
As children grow older, their behaviours change dramatically. While a hysterical tantrum over something minor is completely normal at two ...
