Authors

Dr. D. Preston Smith attended Rice University in Houston, Texas where he graduated with honors in Economics. He graduated from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1987. Following medical school he spent two years in General Surgery at the University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville. In 1993, he finished his Urology Residency at … [Read more...] about About the Author – Dr. D. Preston Smith

Turning Worry into Trust A friend once told me about a new mom who called her pediatrician about 50 times during the first two weeks of her son's life. Finally the pediatrician called the mom into her office and said, "Listen, you have become a parent. You have opened yourself up to a lifetime of worry. You have to pace yourself." As a world-class worrier myself, born … [Read more...] about The Ten Talents of Parenting: Turning Worry into Trust

Reaching Our for Support Do you get enough support? No? I didn't think so! Most parents don't. We may refuse to admit to ourselves that we even need it, or we may know we need it, but are embarrassed to ask for it. We might not believe we deserve any help, or we might feel there's nobody out there willing or able to support us. Another obstacle to reaching out is … [Read more...] about The Ten Talents of Parenting: Reaching Out

Focusing on Relationship to Ease Power Struggles with Your Child When my daughter was just starting kindergarten, we had big battles over getting dressed. She would whine, "I can't get dressed by myself, you have to help me." I knew perfectly well she could get dressed on her own - she had been doing it for months - so I found this very aggravating. But guess who always wins … [Read more...] about The Ten Talents of Parenting: Connection

How to End the Blame Game Most parents struggle with feeling inadequate or incompetent. One key talent of parenthood is letting go of self-criticism and self-blame. How have you nurtured acceptance of yourself, acknowledgment that you've always done the best you could - even if you wanted to do better? A few years back, my friend Helen asked me if I would teach a class … [Read more...] about The Ten Talents of Parenting: Self-Acceptance