Ava Rose, LCSW

07/21/2025

07/18/2025

07/12/2025

If you’ve ever wondered why you must have training and a license to drive a car, but no training and no license is to raise a child, then the following might interest you.

Everyone can’t be forced to take parenting classes, but what if there was an entirely new kind of parenting education that reaches everyone, everywhere?

A kind of parenting education that reaches grandparents raising grandchildren, mature parents, young parents, soon-to-be parents, teens, and school age children.

A kind of parenting education that would become a permanent fixture of our culture.

A kind of parenting education that comes not from a government entity that some people might not trust, but from the community itself.

Believe it or not, this entirely new kind of parenting education exists…

and it requires no planning, no effort, no time, and costs nothing.

The Camarillo, CA nonprofit Advancing Parenting does one thing and one thing only. It gives away parenting tip bumper stickers.

Don’t laugh!

Bumper stickers are an easy and powerful way to teach everyone about parenting. There are fifty-five in a set and the messages focus on the development of children’s mental health, intellect, and character. Some are quite wordy, but there’s plenty of time to read them at stoplights.

At intersections you can use your rearview mirror to watch drivers and passengers read the message. They point, smile, nod, and conversations begin. People are genuinely pleased that parenting information is being shared in this very public way.

Visit www.advancingparenting.org to request a free bumper sticker. Schools, communities, businesses, clinics, organizations, service clubs, and agencies may request complete sets that can be put in holders and placed on counters so staff and visitors can choose one for their cars. They can also be given away at meetings and events.

Just one will be read thousands of times! Please share.

07/11/2025

Some children grow up in homes where there isn’t enough care to go around.⁣
⁣
So they step in.⁣
They become the organiser, the emotional support, the caretaker.⁣
⁣
Not because they should.⁣
But because the system needs someone to hold it together.⁣
⁣
This is how parentification begins — when a child takes on the role of a parent.⁣
⁣
It can happen when:⁣
🌀 A parent is ill, absent, or overwhelmed⁣
🌀 There are younger siblings to care for⁣
🌀 The child is pulled into adult conflict⁣
🌀 Substance abuse, divorce, or emotional immaturity are present⁣
⁣
It’s a survival strategy.⁣
And it can follow us into adulthood — making it hard to rest, receive, or even know what we need.⁣
⁣
If this was you, you make sense.⁣
And healing is possible.⁣
⁣
Love, Jen 🪷⁣
________⁣

07/01/2025

05/21/2025

05/02/2025

"Dysfunctional families tend to cater to the most toxic person. The other family members do everything in their power to keep the toxic person happy." This pattern becomes a deeply ingrained survival mechanism, especially in families where open communication, emotional safety, and healthy boundaries are lacking. The toxic person—whether a parent, sibling, or even an extended family member—gradually becomes the emotional center of the household. Their reactions, moods, and desires govern the behavior of everyone around them.

Instead of challenging this toxicity or setting limits, the family adapts by prioritizing the toxic individual’s comfort over the wellbeing of the group. Family members begin to walk on eggshells, constantly monitoring their own words and actions to avoid triggering an outburst, silent treatment, manipulation, or emotional punishment. Conflict is not resolved—it's buried. Accountability is not encouraged—it's feared. And love is not unconditional—it's earned through compliance and emotional self-erasure.

Often, the more empathetic or emotionally attuned members of the family take on the role of peacekeeper, caretaker, or scapegoat. They may internalize the dysfunction, believing they are the problem, while the toxic person continues unchallenged. This imbalance reinforces a harmful dynamic where the most destructive person receives the most attention and power, while others are neglected, silenced, or emotionally dismissed. Over time, this leads to deep psychological wounds, such as low self-worth, anxiety, chronic guilt, and a distorted understanding of love and loyalty.

This dysfunction can also ripple across generations. Children raised in such environments may carry these patterns into adulthood, repeating them in friendships, romantic relationships, or as parents themselves. They may struggle to set boundaries, speak their truth, or recognize what healthy relationships look and feel like.

Healing begins when the cycle is named and interrupted—often by the very people who have suffered the most. It takes immense courage to stop enabling the toxic person and start honoring your own emotional reality. This may mean establishing boundaries, limiting contact, or seeking therapy. It may mean facing the grief of what the family could have been but never was. But with this honesty and effort, healing becomes possible—not only for the individual, but potentially for the family system as a whole, if others are willing to confront the truth.

04/06/2025

Art | Alphonse Osbert

01/02/2025

https://apple.news/AEoXBP879RdSyqSJH66FcQA

Trying to avoid suffering can paradoxically make it worse. You can train your mind to find a better way. December 26, 2024 “The art of life lies in taking pleasures as they pass,” said the ancient Greek philosopher Aristippus, “and the keenest pleasures are not intellectual, nor are they alway...