Ms Julieta Aguilera, PhDc

Julieta is a doctoral candidate in the final stages of completing her PhD in the School/Applied Child Psychology program at McGill University. She specializes in helping children, teens, adults, and families presenting with a range of issues, including anxiety, autism, ADHD, behaviour problems, depression, coping with difficult medical diagnoses, emotion dysregulation, learning difficulties, self- harm, and trauma.

All Posts by Ms Julieta Aguilera, PhDc

my toddler needs a lot of explanations

My toddler needs a very long explanation before listening to anything I say. I’m tired of needing to explain myself for every little thing, what can I do?

By Ms Julieta Aguilera, PhDc April 28, 2020

It’s ok to provide explanations for rules, actions, and limits. You will want to keep these explanations concise and tailored to your child’s age. For instance, for a three-year-old, you could say: “You have to go to bed, because your brain needs to rest, let’s get ready!” However, only plan to provide an explanation once…

young siblings playing

My older child keeps hitting my younger child, how do I get her to stop?

By Ms Julieta Aguilera, PhDc April 27, 2020

Catch Your Child Being Good!  Praise your daughter every time she is friendly, gentle, uses a soft touch, shares, etc. with her younger sibling. Try to be specific with your praise. Instead of praising for playing nice, provide detailed praise by including specific actions: “Nice sharing!”, or include more detail for older children: “That was…

child sound asleep

My three year old insists I stay with him until he falls asleep, which can take up to 3 hours! What can I do?

By Ms Julieta Aguilera, PhDc April 27, 2020

Make a Plan Structure bedtime and discuss this new structure with your child: “Tonight I would like to try something new! What would you say if for bedtime tonight we read one story and I give you 3 snuggles?” Then introduce an incentive for independent behaviour: “After that, I will leave the room, and if…