Author Archives: Steven Petrus

About Steven Petrus

Dr. Steven Petrus is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in psycho-educational assessment, child, adolescent and family therapy.

Teen Binge Drinking

According to studies from the U.S. Department of Justice, binge drinking accounts for 90 percent of all the alcohol consumed by teenagers. These underage drinkers don’t sip a drink slowly, they take it down quickly and the effects can be [...]

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Teenage Narcissism

During their teenage years adolescents are naturally self-involved, putting their own needs before those of anyone close to them and passionately insisting that they are right.  However, are our teens more self-involved than we were?  Did we spend as much [...]

Posted in Parenting, Teens | 1 Comment

Theory of Mind

Theory of Mind refers to a person’s ability to infer mental state in others. It is the ability to explain observable events based on desires or emotions, knowing that other people think differently from you, being able to take another [...]

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Teen Anxiety

Anxiety and stress levels in teenagers have drastically increased over the last few decades. As the pressures of the world around adolescents have increased, more and more teens are facing health problems both on the physical and on the emotional [...]

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Temperament is what?

Temperament is an inherent part of a child’s character and can be shaped but not changed. Understanding and learning about different temperaments is important because it affects you as a parent, your child, and the relationship between you.  Temperament shapes [...]

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The Adolescent Brain and Substance Use

Adolescence is a time of profound brain growth and change. It has been shown that the brain of an early adolescent compared to that of a late adolescent is different in the areas of anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology. As the [...]

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Parenting Tip – Notice the Positives!

How many times a day do you, as a parent, have to correct your teen’s misbehavior with statements such as “Stop that,” “clean up your room,” or “how many times am I going to have to ask you to put [...]

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Parent Tip – Helping your child make friends.

Research shows that parents play an important role in teaching their children how to make friends. The most popular kids are pro-social and are able to demonstrate caring, sharing, and helpful traits. They also know how to control their selfish [...]

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Consequence vs. Punishment

Consequences are different from Punishments because consequences teach children to learn from their mistakes rather than making them suffer for their mistake. Consequences guide a child’s behavior and help children learn about the results of their behavior.  When used correctly, [...]

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Parenting Part 1 – “Does how I parent really matter?”

The type of Parenting Style a parent uses can positively or negatively affect a child’s level of confidence, self-worth, sense of security, interaction with peers and authority figures, and sense of self. Research has shown that Parenting Style has been found [...]

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