Jennifer Silverstein

Author: Jennifer

  • Attachment in America

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    Jennifer
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    Note: “attachment” in this article refers to attachment theory, not the Attachment Parenting style. By four months old, “the baby begins to tell people apart and lets them know who she prefers. With those closest to her… patterns of mutual interaction meet her need for intimacy. She is falling in love. Strong emotional ties form…

  • Mindful Parenting

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    Jennifer
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    I have been blessed with a flourishing mindfulness practice for many years. As a therapist providing mindfulness-based treatment, I was constantly reminded of how to access mindful presence, and prompted to walk my talk by doing so. It has served me well. Though mindfulness is explicitly not about seeking a certain state of mind, its…

  • The New Dance: Developmental Changes in Emotional Regulation

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    Jennifer
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    I always knew 3-months was a major developmental marker, yet I have been blown away by Dani recently. It is as though the moment she began holding her head up, she became a whole new person. She is more alert and aware of her environment, more interactive, and I am seeing the first hints of her…

  • Language Magic

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    Jennifer
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    I have been fascinated by language development since long before I was a mother. It is a window into the extraordinary flexibility and plasticity of the infant brain – you can almost see the neurons firing as they master new words.  From birth to three years old, the brain makes 700 new synaptic connections per…

  • “Emotional Sponges”: Rupture and Repair

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    Jennifer
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    “Babies are emotional sponges.” I can’t remember when I first heard that said, but it rings so true.  The words we currently say to Dani are just jumble of sounds and rhythm, yet we are communicating with her constantly. We express our emotional state non-verbally by tone, facial expression, posture, movement, touch and the capacity…

  • “The Witching Hour” – Crying, Colic and Stress

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    Jennifer
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    Danica had her two month check-up yesterday; she is blessedly healthy and well. My wife asked the Doctor about Dani’s routine crying spell at 7pm every evening. It has been like clockwork for the past month or so. We call it her Witching Hour. Some nights there’s just mild fussiness and she is easily soothed…