General Information about Parenting Skills

There are different parenting styles and methods, and parents often need assistance learning how to best manage their children’s behavior. They may also need guidance speaking with their children about difficult issues such as divorce, adoption, chronic pain, physical illness, and death and dying. Feel free to read more about oppositional and defiant behavior or learn more about topics that you may find difficult to discuss with your child.

Child Behavior Management

When children frequently misbehave, argue, break rules, tantrum, and are generally oppositional, it can disrupt the family dynamics and cause distress for you and other family members. It is not unusual for parents to disagree on how to discipline their children given that their own upbringings and experiences may have differed. Overall, it is important for caretakers to talk openly with one another and to set rules and limits appropriate to their child’s age and development. In treatment, you can learn different parenting techniques and learn how to balance reinforcement of positive behaviors with the implementation of fair and suitable consequences. Treatment can also help your child to use different methods to problem-solve more effectively, increase frustration tolerance, improve communication skills, and better control his or her anger.

Talking About Difficult Issues

Children and adolescents face many developmental changes and challenges that can be intensified by different emotional, medical, and situational factors. Parents often wonder how to speak with their children about difficult subjects such as divorce, adoption, chronic pain, physical and mental illness, and death and dying. They may worry whether their children will develop problems when confronted with some of these events. Not all children experience significant distress in these situations, but it is important for parents to be willing to openly discuss their children’s concerns and feelings and to be aware of signs of difficulties. We can help you to learn how to address these issues with your child and help ease their adjustment to them.