The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By: Christine Hammond, LMHC Miscommunication happens often enough face to face. But it happens far more frequently over text messages. Alice was texting back and forth with her boyfriend when suddenly he went silent after a simple question. In the middle of a meeting, John received a three page text message from his ex-wife. Sandy accidentally sent an intimate text message to the wrong person causing a series of awkward responses. All of these misunderstandings could be avoided by following a few simple guidelines. Here are the top 15 texting rules: 1.        Know your audience. Don’t be more intimate over text messaging than you are in person. This is very confusing and sends the wrong impression. A person you just met should not be getting a text message that a best friend would normally receive. It is better for a relationship to progress in person first. 2.       Double check everything. Before the se...

By John Thurman He came into my office visibly upset we shared a quick greeting and before you know it he shoved a cell phone close to my eyes and said, “Look at this!” I was thrown for a loop when I began to focus on the screen of his fifteen year old daughter’s cell phone. It was her sans blouse and supporting garments. First of all there is no woman young or old that I need to see other than my wife. This still somewhat shocking episode, but it began a new phase of my counseling practice, working with parents and their teens after the teen has been busted for sexting.Since that cold winter day a little over a year and a half ago I have worked with a dozen or so teens and their families coming to terms with this phenomenon. How has Sexting happened? First of all teens are not well known for impulse control, but up until the advent of the camera phone and web cams, the photos of nude and semi-nude teens was regulated to “Girls Gone Wild,” and other shady and pornographic sites, but th...