Author Archives: On the Yellow Couch

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About On the Yellow Couch

Welcome to On the Yellow Couch with Dr. Angelica Shiels! Dr. Shiels is a wife and a mother of three young boys as well as a child and adult therapist. In her free-time, when she isn’t ninja-fighting, catching frogs, or wiping pee from around the toilet, she enjoys spending time on her own couch…. Which she wishes was yellow, but is actually brown and falling apart on account of the three milk-spilling ninjas…. Dr. Shiels really enjoys her job outside of the house, where kids, teens, adults, and couples can sit on a nice leather couch where no Gogurt is ever squeezed. Therapy with Dr. Shiels in available in the Annapolis/Baltimore/DC area. Find her articles on Psych Central and Lifehack. Find her blog posts on Scary Mommy, Mamapedia, and others.

Does my unhelpful, selfish husband have ADHD?

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By Angelica Shiels Psy.D. I was recently reading a great article about ADHD and marriage. Basically, the article described a type of “irritable, selfish, unhelpful, sometimes useless” partner, a partner often described to me in therapy by a frustrated wife, describing her schlub … Continue reading →

Challenging the Epidemic of Disconnection: Awareness and Acceptance

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By Angelica Shiels Psy.D. As a mom of three little boys, I desperately want this world to be better. I want my boys to someday live in a world where people with a certain skin color aren’t more likely to … Continue reading →

How to talk to people so they will listen. (Yes, even your teenager and your husband.)

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By Angelica Shiels Psy.D. Most mental health counselors receive some kind of training in how to communicate in a way that errrr… doesn’t sound off-putting, arrogant, one-sided, and ridiculous.  And lo and behold, it is not just the people who … Continue reading →

“Love” Unfit for a Hallmark Card

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By Angelica Shiels Psy.D. (Article also posted on Mamapedia) For two days after the birth of our first child, my husband and I were overcome with this complex combination of calm and crazy.   As first-time parents, we were so proud, so … Continue reading →

Warning: Steer clear of this relationship wrecking ball!

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By Angelica Shiels Psy.D. We’re all familiar with this cliché scenario: A wife stands there, “nagging” her husband with her hands on her hips, and her husband simply turns up the TV volume while he continues to look straight ahead … Continue reading →

A SKILL that staves off depression in children

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By Angelica Shiels Psy.D. Today’s children are at a higher risk for depression than in any previous generation. Almost one in ten children will experience a major depressive episode by the time they are 14 years old, and almost one in … Continue reading →

The best thing a parent can do for a highly emotional child.

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By Angelica Shiels Psy.D. I see many kids and teens that suffer from Depression, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality traits in therapy. Many parents want to know, “What causes my child to feel so sad , lonely, depleted, apathetic, or … Continue reading →

Don’t want to fight? Try these simple conflict-busters.

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By Angelica Shiels Psy.D. No, there isn’t going to be a flowery intro on this post; I’m just getting straight to the point (much like how your conversations will go if all goes right.)… But I should say that these … Continue reading →