The Dating and Relationship Group: This group is for men and women who want to explore their relational lives; group sessions occur every other Saturday, 12:00 to 1:15 PM.  Please review flyer for more details.

The Men's Group: This group is for men who want to explore the challenges of masculinity in contemporary culture; group sessions occur every other Saturday, 10:45 AM to 12:00 PM. Please review flyer for more details. 

Turning Point Center for Families: On Tuesday, September 24, 2013, Dr. Tobin presented a two-hour workshop to clinical trainees at the Turning Point Center for Families in Irvine.  The workshop, entitled "An Introduction to the Relational Parenting Approach: Concepts, Theory, and Technique," featured a transcript adapted from Dr. Tobin's clinical practice of an adolescent talking with her parents. The transcript was used to showcase Dr. Tobin's relational parenting approach that seeks to integrate attachment theory, object relations theory, and intersubjectivity to provide parents with an alternative view of positively influencing and relating to their children. This approach serves as the core of Dr. Tobin's parent guidance work.  

Dr. Tobin Presents at Fusion Academy on October 22, 2013: All are invited to attend a community education night at Fusion Academy in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, October 22, 6:30 to 8:00 PM.  Dr. Tobin's talk, entitled "The Parenting of Adolescents in the 21st Century," will describe the latest empirical research indicating that teenagers today are less well developed cognitively, emotionally, and psychologically than in previous decades dating back to the 1960s. These findings, in the context of the current environment of social networking, substance abuse, risk-taking behavior, and what Dr. Tobin calls the "silent epidemic" among adolescents, i.e., teens' relative lack of self-identity and purposeful drive/motivation, create significant challenges for parents.  Dr. Tobin will outline his perspective on how parents may effectively respond to these circumstances. Please review flyer for more details. 

The Assessment of Parenting Effectiveness and Relationship Quality (APERQ™): Dr. Tobin has created a new protocol of empirical measures (please review flyer for details) to assess parenting effectiveness and the quality of relationships in the family. Parents and children fill out a series of measures.  Dr. Tobin scores and interprets the data, and provides a written report along with a face-to-face consultation with parents to review the findings.  

In recent years, I have noticed that much of my clinical work and organizational consulting has centered on attempting to remove or at least ameliorate the self-punitive tendencies of my patients and clients.  In my view, the contemporary patient is not necessarily afraid of or anxious about what she may ultimately understand of herself, the long-held view of neurotic conflict.  But, rather, she is more often concerned about the critical, shaming, or otherwise unsupportive reactions those in her social, familial, or occupational realms may emit when she actually chooses to find, express, and reveal herself. This idea has emerged in the latest thinking on creativity.  Two Ted talks, "How to Build Your Creative Confidence" by David Kelley, Stanford professor and founder of the company IDEO, and "On Being Wrong" by journalist Kathryn Schulz, provide intriguing commentaries on this subject.