ON THE YELLOW COUCH

Where the kids are jumping around, the parents are making-out, and best therapy in the world is happening.

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.

What matters to a kid when it comes to family life? (A huge study.)

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Posted on May 15, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

We often hear about how self-care and stress management is necessary for mothers. However, did you know that a mother’s contentment, especially within her relationship, is related to child’s well-being? A huge study by the University of Essex found that … Continue reading →

Men try couples therapy when it focuses on….

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Posted on May 10, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

RESULTS. Read this.

What couples [who are planning on having kids] should REALLY say in their marriage vows….

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Posted on April 26, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

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Relationships. How can something be so beautiful and such a pain in the butt at the same time? I mean I love that I get a built-in copilot for life; someone to sit next to me on his computer while I … Continue reading →

Six unexpected beliefs of happy people

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Posted on April 25, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

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Let’s face it: You don’t need to be a raging Buddhist to buy into the fact that pain and suffering are bound to exist in some form in everyone’s lives. No amount of money, no amount of luck, and no amount of denial can … Continue reading →

Seven habits of “moms who only slightly lose their shit every once in a while”

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Posted on April 21, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

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I wrote this in response to the hoards of “Ten habits of happy moms” articles out there… Come on. No mom is perma-grin, always happy, always patient, always together. No matter what their “habits” are, all moms have their psycho-mommy … Continue reading →

Nearly half of all preschoolers lack one parent-supervised playtime per day.

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Posted on April 15, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

American parents reported that about half of the preschoolers in a nationally representative sample did not have at least one parent-supervised outdoor playtime per day, according to a new article.

Sorry, But “Sorry” Doesn’t Cut It: Why Apologies are Overrated.

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Posted on April 8, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

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Last night, while my husband worked late, I decided to take my kids on a date to the play area at Chick-fil-a. My three boys ran around that little enclosed space with reckless abandon– Their sweaty heads, dirty-gray socks, hot pink … Continue reading →

Meeting Our Kids Where They’re At. (“Because All Kids Are Special.”)

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Posted on April 7, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

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If I tell my five-year-old to sit down and draw or write something, he’ll maybe actually do it for about thirty seconds…. While his phonetics and creativity are great, his fine-motor skills leave much to be desired. Plus he just … Continue reading →

PLEASE!! Let’s Talk About the REAL Problem With the American Educational System

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Posted on March 31, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

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The report cards are in, and they grades aren’t good. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, compared to other countries, teenagers in the U.S. rank 31st in math, 24th in science; and 21st in reading. Even though high school drop-out rates are … Continue reading →

Religion, spanking, and other controversial things: Thoughts about instilling “healthy fear” in kids

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Posted on March 29, 2014 by On the Yellow Couch

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I have this habit of noticing and trying to learn from examples of other people’s good parenting– whether it be a patient parent at Target, a touching moment on Modern Family, or the mother in a fairy tale (Yah, I even think there’s a lesson to … Continue reading →