Understanding Child Behaviors

A distressed child holding her hands over her ears

Are you struggling with your child’s behavior? You are not alone. Every child is different and managing some behaviors can be challenging. Speak to your child’s pediatrician for support.

The author of The Explosive Child, Ross W. Greene, Ph.D., created the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) approach to parenting challenging behaviors. This approach focuses on identifying the skills a person lacks and the expectations they have difficulty meeting, resulting in extreme frustration for routine tasks.

The focus is not on the behavior or the diagnosis. Dr. Greene shows parents how to look at the yelling, biting, screaming, kicking or property destruction differently. The clinician and pioneer in treating kids with social, emotional and behavioral challenges says these children require a different parenting approach.

The focus is on the parent-child relationships to collaboratively solve the problem or unmet expectations proactively. It focuses on empathy, honesty, looking at things through a different lens, and appreciation.

To understand challenging behavior, take The Walking Tour. It’s a series of videos that walk you through the concepts behind CPS so you can see your child’s tantrums, biting, yelling or other challenging behavior in a different light.

Dr. Greene says “Kids do well if they can.” So, get started supporting your child so they can do well.

Helping Children Manage Their Emotions

Woman teaching a student and student actively engaging in learning

Everyone gets mad. As parents, you can help your child manage their emotions. Teach them conflict-resolution skills. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends telling children that when they get mad and don’t fight, they’ve won.

APP teaches an ACT CALM method for mad children.

When they’re mad, they can ACT: