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Interview with Dr. Carol Doss, Author and Therapist. This interview is one in a series of expert interviews on the eDrugstore.com blog. We add new interviews on a regular basis. Please see our complete list of insightful interviews<\/a><\/p>\n 1. You specialize in family counseling. In what ways have the dynamics of the family unit changed in the past twenty years? Ten years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Twenty years ago, families were more often made up of married couples with kids. A growing number of divorced women were raising kids on their own, often without financial or emotional support. In the last ten years, the configuration of \u201cfamily\u201d has undergone big changes and we see a bunch more variety. Multiple marriages have left partners, ex-partners, half-siblings and step-children. In addition, there are same-sex parents of children. Unmarried men and women who cohabitate and raise kids. More individuals and couples are also choosing to remain child-free than was common even ten years ago. It\u2019s a changing, shifting landscape of relationships.<\/p>\n 2. In that same vein, how have marriages changed in the past twenty or ten years?<\/strong> Although the marital configurations have changed, relationships haven\u2019t really. We still struggle with communication and most are still lousy with conflict-resolution. Marriage now more often involves two working adults and men are more involved with child care, although the bulk of this remains women\u2019s work. The headlines about men and parenting too often hide this fact.<\/p>\n Infidelity is an on-going problem for both genders.<\/p>\n 3. In your opinion, do today\u2019s children have harder lives than their parents did? Grandparents? Why or why not?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t really think that today\u2019s children have it harder than their parents. It\u2019s just different. In the past, unhappy couples stayed together to \u201craise the kids\u201d and because women had fewer options. We still struggle to maintain happy relationships, but individuals don\u2019t feel they have to stay in an unhappy marriage.<\/p>\n Kids have more gadgets, which can be both good and bad. The biggest change is in the nature of \u201cwork\u201d and how people engage in making a living. These changes require a shift in relationships, but the basic interaction seems to be about the same.<\/p>\n 4. If there were one tip (or three) you would give to expectant parents, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n The parental relationship is the foundation of the family. This is crucial and too often overlooked. Deal with the conflicts. Don\u2019t think they\u2019ll just go away. Unresolved issues in the parental unit always\u2014always\u2014affect the kids.<\/p>\n Come to an agreement on how you\u2019ll discipline kids. Parents too often focus on how they\u2019ll decorate the nursery and what to name Junior, without taking the time to work out the really big stuff. Child care. Parental responsibilities. What they each expect of the other. Even religious upbringing and spending time with the grandparents. That kind of thing is generally forgotten until the kid is sitting between the two of you and you\u2019re tearing your hair out.<\/p>\n Balance is achieved by both parents pitching in and taking full responsibility for the offspring. Chores can be divided up by ability and preference. Some chores will be disliked by you both and you\u2019ll need to share the irritating tasks. My husband and I hated to look for babysitters. We\u2019d play the \u201cBut you\u2019re so much better at it than I am\u201d card. Just face it, some things suck.<\/p>\n In a functional family unit, individual\u2019s individuality is prized. You want each other to thrive and succeed, even if that calls for sacrifices. At the same time, it\u2019s important to have an overall balance. One parent may be deep into college or graduate school and that will naturally make her less available to chore-sharing, but when the school or job demand lets up, she gets to carried her half. If this let-up never comes, you have a problem that\u2019ll eat at the foundation of a relationship.<\/p>\n About Dr. Carol Doss:<\/strong> Family-Counseling.org DrCarolDoss.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n A Licensed Professional Counselor with over twenty-five years experience in the non-profit sector, Dr. Carol Doss works with a variety of clients. She encourages individuals to take control of their lives by enabling them to direct their own thoughts, feelings and behavior, thus experiencing personal power. Developing healthy, happy relationships with mates and children can be the most difficult challenges we face…and the most important.<\/p>\n Carol’s goal is to help adults and children discover their strengths and release their inner potential which leads to the creation of stronger relationships and greater success in life overall. Carol brings a unique perspective to the counseling process. Understanding individuals from their own viewpoints enables her to better assist in the situations they face. Human interaction brings the greatest learning. She credits her thirty-two year marriage and her co-parenting of her two grown daughters with her greatest education.<\/p>\n She has a Ph.D. in counseling and is Clinical Director at Family Counseling Center, in Fort Worth, Texas. As Clinical Director, Dr. Doss is an approved LPC Supervisor and works with LPCi interns. All her significant endeavors\u2014grad school, marriage, parenting and writing\u2014have taught me that perseverance and hard work add up to success.<\/p>\n Her book, Should I Leave Him?, was published in April, 2010.<\/p>\n Read more of our expert interviews:<\/strong> Interview with Dr. Carol Doss, Author and Therapist. This interview is one in a series of expert interviews on the eDrugstore.com blog. We add new interviews on a regular basis. Please see our complete list of insightful interviews 1. You specialize in family counseling. In what ways have the dynamics of the family unit changed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-expert-interviews-and-podcasts"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t![\"\"](\"\/blog\/files\/media\/image\/dr.%20carol%20doss%20book.JPG\")
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5. What is the best way for today\u2019s families to achieve and maintain balance? How can each member of the family retain their individuality, but be an active and contributing member of the family unit?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nBetty Dodson, Renowned Sexologist, Author, Feminist, Educator<\/a>
\n<\/a>Dean Osborne, Human Nature of Cheating<\/a>
\n<\/a>Dr. MP Wylie, Relationship Advisor<\/a>
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