Parenting Easily Frustrated, Inflexible Kids with Challenging Behavior

Easily frustrated, inflexible children can be difficult to parent.  How can you make your and your child’s life easier? In this show, Dawn Davenport interviews Dr. Ross Greene, Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children. Learn how to help children, all kids, including adopted children, learn to control their frustration and anger.

Hit the Highlights
  • What are common psychiatric labels that are often attached to these children such as oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, bipolar, ADHD, attachments disorder, RAD, disruptive mood regulation disorder?
  • What are the characteristics of a child that is behaviorally challenged or what is called the “explosive child”?
  • What causes children to be easily frustrated and chronically inflexible?
  • Is this type of behavior can be found in all kids—all people regardless of age, but is it more common in children who have been exposed to trauma earlier in life, which is often the case with children adopted at an older age, or is it exclusively an innate temperament?
  • This behavior is not a choice of the child’s; if the kid could do better, he would.
  • The most important thing a parent can do to help their child is to understand why she explodes in the first place.
  • Are these kids acting the way they do because they want attention, or are strong willed, or are manipulating us, or just have a bad attitude?
  • What specific skills do kids who have behavioral challenges lack?
  • How to help a child who automatically says no to everything?
  • What often sets children off?
  • How to find the time to collaboratively problem solve with challenging children?
  • What parenting techniques work with easily frustrated children who do not problem solve well?
  • Do reward based systems usually work?
  • Do punishment based systems usually work?
  • What is the best way to help kids who struggle with their behavior at school?

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Image Credit: greg westfall.