Common Behavioural Issues

In twenty years of treating children’s behavioural issues, not much is surprising anymore.  Children can be angry, defiant, argumentative, violent, sad, anxious or shy.  They can be a devil at home and an angel at school.  Some can’t do sleepovers and some still need to sleep in their parents’ bed.  And some still poo their pants. Many are addicted to screens, and many will only eat junk food.  Some are aggressive with their peers or are falling behind academically.  Some can’t make friends, or they hang out with the wrong ones.

Children’s behaviour can range from mildly annoying to completely outrageous, from amusing to hugely embarrassing.  Sometimes the problem can seem to fix itself, only to come back a month later, or morph into something else just as worrying. 

Many parents are completely exhausted and at their wits end. Some families are on the verge of breaking apart.  Some parents get to the stage of resenting their child, and many siblings hate their family life due to one child’s behaviour.  Parent’s often feel like they have tried everything, and nothing has worked.  

The two questions we need to ask are “Do we need to do anything about it”, and if so “What can we do about it.”  Sometimes parents just need reassurance that they are on the right track and everything will probably be fine – sometimes much more needs to be done.  The good news is, when we focus on the behaviour, there is usually a lot that can be done to set things right. Using the Behavioural Approach doesn’t take months or years of needless and ineffective counselling.  Parents need to be in charge of their child’s behaviour.  Using the Behavioural Approach gives parents’ permission to parent. For more information, please see my Blog, or subscribe to our Podcast “Permission to Parent”, send me an email, or see the Telehealth page for appointment information.