Identifying the Root Cause
Children sometimes act out with tantrums, outbursts, or defiance. To address these behaviour challenges, it’s crucial to understand the underlying reasons behind the behaviour. Onebright delves into the factors that may influence a child’s actions and offers guidance for parents to provide effective support.
Reasons Behind Problematic Behaviour
Escape or Delay
Children often resort to behaviours that allow them to escape or delay tasks they fear or dislike. This response is part of the natural fight or flight reaction. For example, a child may refuse to do homework to avoid the discomfort associated with it.
Supporting Your Child in Facing Fears
- Break Tasks into Steps: Reduce anxiety by dividing tasks into manageable steps and build your child’s confidence.
- Reward Efforts: Praise even the smallest efforts to encourage persistence and reduce avoidance behaviour.
Need for Attention
Children require attention to process information and will seek it through any means, including problematic behaviour. Attention-seeking behaviours often get reinforced when they lead to a response from adults.
Encouraging Positive Attention Seeking
- Planned Activities: Engage your child in activities that build skills and occupy their attention constructively.
- Planned Ignoring: Ignore attention-seeking behaviours to avoid reinforcing them. Ensure you can manage the situation safely and calmly.
- Provide Positive Attention: Offer regular and specific praise for desired behaviours to encourage them.
- Model Patience: Practice patience with small, predictable tasks before gradually increasing the complexity.
Supporting Emotional Expression
Children experience intense emotions but may lack the vocabulary and maturity to express them verbally. Behaviour issues can be a child’s way of communicating stress, fear, anger, or sadness.
Helping Children Express Emotions
- Acknowledge Feelings: Validate your child’s emotions and provide a safe space for them to express concerns.
- Practice Coping Skills: Teach techniques like mindful breathing during calm moments and identify triggers.
- Seek Professional Help: If anxiety persists, consider professional support. Early intervention, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), can help manage various issues such as:
- Separation anxiety
- Depression
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Low self-esteem
- Panic attacks
- Social anxiety
- Phobias
Professional Support from Onebright
Onebright offers online CBT tailored for children and young people. Our experienced therapists work with families to explore the factors influencing behaviour and provide practical support. If you’re struggling to understand your child’s needs, contact Onebright for an assessment and to discuss available treatment options.
