Behavioral Disorder Counseling: All children undergo rebellious or disobedient phases. But when is bad behavior in childhood indicative of a serious problem? When does bad behavior become a behavioral disorder? Disobedient or volatile conduct becomes reclassified as a behavioral disorder when the core symptoms of aggression or rule-breaking persist for longer than 6 months, escalate in intensity, or become abnormal for your child’s developmental stage.
But, what’s considered abnormal? The classic example is usually that of a toddler, who throws tantrums when a parent or preschool teacher uses the word no. Nothing abnormal about that! In fact entire books are written on the subject. But if your 9-year-old has developed a history of erupting into explosive outbursts of rage, for example, the behavior is considered atypical for your child’s peer group and has likely begun to result in problems at home or school, or during extracurricular activities.
Although “bad” habits and aggressive actions can be difficult to undo—fortunately—a vast assortment of innovative and effective interventions exist that can retrain your child’s behavior and re-harness your concentration so that you both can excel in at work or in school. Depending upon your specific therapeutic needs, your therapist may recommend a combination of:
Can be used to address thought processes that enable unhealthy behaviors (such as distractibility, hyperactivity, hostility, aggression, or defiance) to flourish; replacing these destructive cognitions with self-affirming and empathetic views allows for the development of more advantageous and compassionate behaviors.
Supports children, adolescents, and teens with oppositional defiant or conduct disorders to acquire skills for emotional regulation that minimize angry outbursts, defiant behaviors, and violent or vindictive tendencies.
Equips children and adults with ADHD with mechanisms to improve attention, reduce impulsivity, and avoid “waiting-until-the-last-minute” procrastination.
Our Lifeologie counselors practice in conjunction with several area physicians to prescribe and monitor medication use for ADHD, ODD, or CD.
For smaller children with ADHD, ODD, or CD, structured play therapy can be used to encourage your child to communicate honestly and creatively about their condition and can offer opportunities to practice implementing attention skills.
Addresses family dynamics that may contribute to your child’s behavior and offers support to parents who are at their wit’s end.
For children, adolescents, and teens with ODD or CD that stems from an incident of trauma, abuse, or neglect; examines how trauma can warp behavior and assists your child to break the “aggression” cycle.
Therapeutic techniques such as psychotherapeutic yoga therapy, mindfulness, meditation, guided imagery, equine therapy, and expressive arts that reinforce self-soothing, emotional regulation, concentration, and creative expression.