Three offices in New Jersey! Telehealth services are available. We now accept Aetna, Medicare, UnitedHealthcare, and Oxford with most providers. Contact us for more information.
Just like adults, children can experience occasional problems and difficulties as they navigate their way through life. Among the tasks of childhood is to grow and mature, to establish a personal identity, to learn how to relate to others and to learn how to react to things they may encounter out in the world –…
by Margie Nichols and Colleen Powers (Colleen Powers, L.C.S.W., is an IPG therapist specializing in work with children and families. She contributed to this article but couldn’t write it because she and her own family were flooded out of their home by Hurricane Sandy) It’s been more than two weeks since Sandy hit, and unless…
By Margie Nichols, Ph.D. This is another post about parenting, but from a different perspective. A while ago I wrote about how parenting styles don’t matter. This is about something that does. We know through research that kids who are ‘different’ can be shielded from the effects of a judgmental world through the efforts of…
by Margie Nichols, Ph.D. Two articles about gender differences and childcare have been on my mind lately. The first is an article by Tara Parker-Pope published early in 2012 in the Times Sunday Magazine. She reports on research showing the predictable gender differences in child-care activities, even when both parents work, but also showing that mothers enjoy…
By Margie Nichols, Ph.D. California just passed a law, SB 21172, making it illegal to practice ‘conversion therapy’ – the attempt to convert a homosexual to a heterosexual orientation – on minors. Few people understand the importance of this law, not only for gay teens, but also for all trans and gender nonconforming children, some…
In recent months there has been a show of rebellion against what some have called the fetishization of motherhood, including some articles that even question that most sacred of cows (no pun intended), breast-feeding. The Time Magazine cover story of May 2012, “Are You Mom Enough?” is the most well known, but other similar articles…
In this video, the second part of our series on children who are gender non-conforming, IPG Executive Director, psychologist, and sex therapist Dr. Margie Nichols explains what these kids need from their parents: unconditional love and support, the freedom to be who they really are, contact with other kids like them – and advocacy. To…
Dr. Margie Nichols, psychologist, sex therapist and director of IPG Counseling, and Courtney Zehnder, IPG Social Media Staff and counselor for LGBTQ and gender variant kids, tackle a difficult subject. On August 12, 2012, the New York Times Sunday Magazine’s cover story was called “BoyGirl – What’s So Bad About A Boy Who Wants To…
IPG just initiated supportive counseling groups for gender variant and transgender youth, and for their parents. We’re realizing that most people are woefully misinformed about these kids, so we came up with a list of facts that we hope will counteract the stereotypes and falsehoods: 1. It’s Not a Binary, It’s a Spectrum. We’re used…
(The following is a press release from Northwestern University we thought important enough to post) Love from family and friends offer most protection, while bullying causes highest risk What protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youths from considering suicide and, conversely, what makes them most vulnerable to it? The question is of paramount concern…
