Scouting Magazine discusses the importance of Scouting when athletic prowess isn’t your thing. Here’s the part that quotes Jason Wasser of Lifeworks Therapies, LLC. Read Full Article

Remember: Boys have a deep need to feel competent. Scouting is an excellent outlet for boys who don’t excel in competitive sports, according to Jason Wasser, a licensed marriage and family therapist who grew up in Scouting.

“There are 122 merit badges in the program,” he says. “A Scout can find some area where he can shine.”

With that in mind, Luke has gained confidence by honing his Scouting skills and building knowledge in areas that do come easily: debate, military history, and politics, for example.

The Cadenza Center is the culmination of our dream to counsel and treat children, adolescents, and families. Our professional team offers treatment for a wide variety of clinical needs and incorporates the use of creative arts therapies. Our beautiful new downtown Hollywood office is equipped with a state-of-the-art music therapy room, art room, play room, and a music-assisted relaxation room in addition to our comfortable psychotherapy offices. You owe it to yourself to learn more about our programs and services by visiting our website or setting a time to tour our facilities.
Jason Wasser, LMFT
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Individual, Child, Couple and Family Therapy
Sports Performance Consulting
Hypnotherapy

Cadenza Center for Psychotherapy & the Arts
210 S. Federal Hwy, #302
Hollywood, FL 33020
954-925-3191 f:954-925-3193
www.cadenzacenter.com

Learn more about Jason Wasser

With a warm breeze and music in the air, Dolphin Stadium was dubbed its new name, Landshark Stadium, bringing Jimmy Buffett’s unique Floribbean flavor back to Miami. Surrounded by Parrotheads and Dolphin fans dressed up in full regalia for the occasion, Jimmy commented “We gave half of the tickets to the Parrot Head Club and half to Dol-Fans and I can’t tell the difference”. 

Starting off the event with the songs “Margaritaville” and “Volcano”, Buffett then performed a brand new version of his classic song “Fins” with lyrics dedicated to the Miami Dolphins and its fans. 

Look forward to Margaritaville themed areas within the stadium as well as additional projects that will hopefully appeal to the greater South Florida sports community. As Jimmy in a pre-concert interview “Let the Fin begin!”

Videos and pictures can be found directly on the Miami Dolphins website www.miamidolphins.com

Jason Wasser is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist from Aventura and recently discovered that he is a Parrothead.

LifeWorks Therapies, LLC
(305) 606-0791
(305) 356-3605 Fax
www.lifeworkstherapies.com

Jason Wasser, LMFT

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

A few weeks ago, I read that Warren Buffett, one of America’s most influential investors, likened this country’s escalating fiscal woes to “an economic Pearl Harbor”. In my practice, I find that my clients are handling the financial crisis in ways that they never thought they would. Some talked about screaming at their spouses and children, while others talked about drinking to take the edge off at the end of the day. But the majority talked about the depression they are trying to fight. Feeling stuck and overwhelmed, their resources seem limited given all that is going on in the world. And no one ever wants to feel like they are stuck where they don’t want to be. Doing something for themselves can sometimes seem out of the question.

A different Buffett, Jimmy, the musician and savvy businesman once mused, “if life gives you limes, make margaritas”. Inspired by the words of the Mayor of Margaritaville, today I did just that! A close friend of mine and I closed up shop and headed down for a daycation to the Florida Keys to enjoy the therapeutic healing of the water, sun, sand and good conversations with friendly locals.

In South Florida, just like any other big city, we get stuck in our day to day life, the fast pace of transitioning between work and personal time and the blending of the boundaries between the two. But for a few hours, my phone went unanswered, my emails went unchecked and my stress melted as my friend and I took the time for some much needed rest and relaxation.

There is much to be said about the types of therapies for the myriad of physical or emotional challenges out there. Perhaps one of the most misunderstood and under utilized resources is the practice of having a mental health day . According to a poll of over 1,000 employees, ComPsych, a provider of employee assistance programs, reported that eighty-two percent of employees have taken a mental health day to help cope with overwhelming stress in their present life. 

Unfortunately, many people miss the point of how to utilize one of the best resources available to them. A simple but profoud mental health day or daycation, can be the most rejuvinating and insightful personal experience in today’s economy. A mental health day doesn’t have to cost anything, doesn’t have to be preplanned, and certainly doesn’t have to be hours away from where you are. These daycations, may just be what you need to get out from under the pile of stress, reevaluate your priorities in life or even just spend those extra few hours of time with your friends and family that you always feel guilty not doing. Its that change of environment that can allow new and helpful perspectives to flood in.

Right now, the most important thing you can do for yourself and your family is to incorporate little opportunities for self care. Many of us may have even neglected this part of our lives before the world was thrown into its most recent perils. The question you need to ask yourself is “how can I take advantage of even the smallest opportunity to make this situation better for everyone around me and especially myself?” Be it a new hobby, enjoying free live music, tapping deeper into your spiritual practice, or even a daycation. The “changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes” philosophy of Mr. Buffett is certainly a healing perscription we all can benefit from right now.

Jason Wasser, LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who practices in Hollywood, FL and sees clients from Miami Beach to Boca Raton. He works with children,adults, individuals, couples and families.

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

Visit Lifeworks Therapies in our Business Directory

One morning I was visiting a school to do a clinical observation for a student when my mouth dropped. What I saw before me seemed like nothing out of the ordinary for the students and teacher but there it was at 8:30 a.m. as clear as can be. A child was sitting at his desk, eating a pastrami sandwhich, chips and drinking a can of soda.  When I asked the teacher what the school snack policy was, I was told there was none. 

So the question I asked myself is who is really to blame for this problem? Is it our  school system for having unclear snack policies or is it the parent’s fault for not feeding the child a substantial breakfast and sending the child to school without a more balanced meal?

When determining a clinical diagnosis in regards to a child’s behavior, one of the very first questions I would ask is “ what do they eat?”  The amount of times the response from the teacher or parents was “ what does that have to do with how he/she is misbehaving” shows how much we all need to learn about how our diet truly can have an effect on our behaviors.  Did you know that good nutrition and other important health habits are best established in childhood? If not, here are some facts to look over carefully.

7% of school age children are diagnosed as ADHD.   (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

ADHD is two or three times more common in boys than in girls.   (Center for Science in the Public Interest)

1 child in 4 is obese and nearly 50% of obese adolescents remain obese as adults.     (International Journal of Obesity)

By the age of 12, an estimated 70% of our children have developed the beginning stages of hardening of the arteries.    (Bogalusa Heart Study)

What do each of the researched facts above have in common? Each medical challenges can be diminished by becoming a well educated consumer of the foods you are buying and preparing for you and your family. 

ADHD, also called Hyperactivity or Attention-Deficit Disorder is mainly exhibited with symptoms in children such as reduced attentiveness and concentration, excessive levels of activity, distractibility, and impulsiveness. ADHD takes an enormous toll on children and their families. The child falls behind in school, loses self-esteem, and needs extra help. A family may need to cope with the need to focus the child’s attention on essential activities or restrain his or her impulsive behavior, while dealing with the unsettling fact that the child is not always welcome in other people’s homes, in play groups, or on teams. (cspinet.org)

Children these days eat and drink too much sugar, consume too many empty calories, and don’t eat enough of the good things they need – especially fresh fruits and vegetables. Some children can have severe reactions to food additives and exhibit signs of ADHD and even autism when they eat additives. These days parents also need to rule out the possibility of food allergies when it comes to atypical behaviors of their children. 

Imagine sitting in class after a breakfast, snack or lunch that contains some food that you may be allergic to. Perhaps some of the behaviors that we are now witnessing in children are due to the increased sensitivity that they have to some ingredient or preservative. Even if that isn’t the case, it still begs of us to increase the overall nutrition for ourselves and our families.

So what can you do if you are concerned your child may have ADHD and want to explore options you can change yourself?                                                                 

●Become informed consumers about the basics of food and it’s preparation.                                                

● Stick to homemade, whole, fresh produce, dairy, meat or fish as much as possble and avoid take out or prepared foods where you aren’t aware of the ingredients.                                                                            

●Stay away from caffeine containing products as one study reported a 252% increase in ADHD scores (Connor’s Scale) when children drank less than one can of caffeinated colas.                                              

●Limit sugar containing products which also have a profound effect on your child’s behavior. When a teacher is walking the halls with foot long pixie sticks as a reward for his students, although his intentions are well meaning, he is contributing to his classroom’s behavioral problems.                                      

  ●Eliminate food coloring, additives and preservatives as much as possible as these have also been linked to behaviors connected to ADHD. A September 2007 study released in Time Magazine shows that “a variety of common food dyes and the preservative sodium benzoate — an ingredient in many soft drinks, fruit juices, salad dressings and other foods — causes some children to become more hyperactive and distractible than usual” (time.com). When the report was released in the British medical journal The Lancet,  Britain’s Food Standards Agency issued an advisory to parents to limit their children’s intake of preservatives and food additives. This study was the first to show a concrete connection between food additives and hyperactivity.                                                                                                                               

  ●Get involved with your child’s school and PTA to  help makes change to their food and snack policies so that your child can get the most out of his educational experience.  Encourage them to increase the education for their students about healthy diet and nutrition and only serve well balanced meals, that are low in saturated fat, if there is a hot lunch program.                                                                               

  ●Try whole food based supplements for you and your child that only have extensive and reputable research backing up the product. Visit The Children’s Study at www.childrenshealthstudy.com  and www.naturegrownjuiceplus.com to learn more how your child’s diet can affect their health and what other simple steps you can take to improve your families health.

Hopefully, with continued education and discussions, we can find ways to increase our overall knowledge about the connections between diet and ADHD that will hopefully contribute to the improvement of your child’s behaviors and lead to long standing changes in your families overall health and wellbeing.

Jason Wasser, LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist who practices in Hollywood, Fl and sees clients from Miami Beach to Boca Raton.  He can be reached at (954) 925-1113, 

JWasserMFT@gmail.com or www.lifeworkstherapies.com