Category: Family & Parenting

↕

Healing the Incest Wound with Dr. Christine Courtois December 1, 2005

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Christine Courtois
Category: Family & Parenting, Trauma & Healing

Childhood sexual abuse is far more complex than stranger rape, and the family ties that bind a child to a perpetrator make the damage uniquely lasting. Armand DiMele speaks with Dr. Christine Courtois, author of “Healing the Incest Wound,” about definitions of incest, sibling abuse, long-term effects including PTSD and fibromyalgia, and recovery in adulthood. Callers share raw personal testimony.

Sibling Rivalry and Competition November 3, 2005

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Family & Parenting, Identity & The Self

Sibling rivalry is rooted in biological competition for scarce resources, chiefly parental time and attention. Armand DiMele traces the dynamic from birth order through adult behavior, drawing on callers’ stories, and offers parents concrete guidance on reducing destructive competition at home.

Childhood Obesity and Parental Responsibility with Molly Carmel Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Molly Carmel, Sherri Siegel
Category: Addiction & Compulsion, Family & Parenting

When does a child’s weight become a matter of parental neglect, even criminal liability? Armand DiMele and co-host Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. talk with Molly Carmel, eating disorder specialist at the Wilkins Center, about the biology of obesity, the limits of food policing, and what parents can actually do to help.

Feeling Connected During the Holidays Undated

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Family & Parenting

Most people yearn for connection but secretly feel separate, and the holidays sharpen that ache. Armand DiMele takes calls from listeners wrestling with family betrayal, enmeshed mothers, and the courage to re-enter the world after long withdrawal, asking whether true connection is even possible in an increasingly individualist culture.

The Father Inside You Undated

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Family & Parenting, Identity & The Self

Father’s Day triggers deep, often denied wounds that shape careers, relationships, and self-worth. Armand DiMele maps the landscape of absent, frightening, and emotionally dead fathers, argues that most men’s self-hatred traces back to unacknowledged need for their fathers, and fields calls from listeners grappling with unavailable dads and its lasting fallout.

When Parents Are Depressed Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Christine Ulrich
Category: Depression & Mood, Family & Parenting

Parental depression is one of the strongest predictors of childhood anxiety and behavioral disorders, and treating the parent often helps the child more than medicating the child. Armand DiMele and research assistant Christine Ulrich examine the evidence, explain the family-system dynamic, and take calls from adult listeners tracing their struggles back to depressed or absent parents.

The Weight of Caregiving with Diana Denholm Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Diana Denholm, John Valerio, Linda Vanella, Lisa Arnone
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Family & Parenting

What happens when caregiving breeds resentment, and is walking away ever the right choice? Armand DiMele and Dr. Diana Denholm, MD, along with Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, and Lisa Arnone, LCSW, examine the emotional cost of caring for ill or aging loved ones, the guilt of leaving, and why honest communication matters more than silent sacrifice.

Why Men Marry Their Mothers Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Ben Starr, Linda Vanella, Ori Amini Morrison
Category: Family & Parenting, Love & Romantic Relationships

Trauma-induced intimacy disorder shapes who we choose to love. Linda Vanella, LCSW-R, and Ora Yemini-Morrison, LCSW, join Armand to unpack why men unconsciously replicate the mother bond in romantic partnerships, why women do the same with fathers, and how early boundary failures drive fear of commitment, enmeshment, and the mama’s boy pattern across cultures.

Caring for Aging Parents Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Alan White, Stephanie Roth
Category: Aging & Mortality, Family & Parenting

Four generations now routinely coexist, and the adult child’s role shifts dramatically when a parent begins to decline. Armand DiMele and co-host Stephanie Roth-Goldberg, LCSW, together with Alan White, examine how guilt and obligation keep families at arm’s length, what real caregiving looks like, and why spouses of Alzheimer’s patients resist the help they most need.

Surviving the Holiday Season Undated

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Family & Parenting

The holidays bring more psychological distress than any other time of year, and Armand DiMele offers practical strategies for navigating them. Topics range from seasonal affective disorder and family dinner blow-ups to the Italian phrase “stataziti” (zip it), loneliness, and a caller’s anxious child.