Dr. Ross Greene

What do you do when you can't sling your 15-year old over your shoulder anymore during meltowns? Solve those problems collaboratively and proactively. But that's not the only question that was answered during today's program.

Some great phone discussions today...we received an update from an old friend about a kid we've known for years, helped a mom try to extract more information from her adolescent daughter, and revisited the can't versus won't debate (which shouldn't be a debate at all anymore)...

Parents sometimes behave in ways that they then regret. What to do afterward? Plan B. What to do beforehand? Plan B. Does a psychiatric or special education label move things along? Not when it comes to identifying lagging skills and unsolved problems.  

On this, our first program of fall, 2016, Dr. Greene and Susy responded to lots of questions, including several about how to use Plan B on problems causing conflict between siblings.

If you're using the CPS model, does that mean you no longer have expectations for a child?  Goodnesss, no.  You can't parent without expectations; you can't have influence without expectations. How you respond when your child is having difficulty meeting your expectations...well, that's where Plan B comes in real handy.

We adults are a whole lot better at noticing behaviors we don't like in our kids than we are at identifying expectations the kids is having difficulty meeting...and that's the hard part in wording unsolved problems. Fortunately, help is provided!

If you're solving problems proactively, does that help you out if you're stuck in the heat of the moment? This and lots of other questions answered on today's program!

What are the characteristics of a good school for a behaviorally challenging kid? You'll have to listen to the program to find out. And that's not all that was discussed on today's program... 

As always, lots of territory covered with our callers on today's program...but we began with an article from the Huffington Post about a mom who demonstrated great empathy for her son in the midst of Plan A. The big question: why didn't she do Plan B instead?

As always, lots of territory covered on today's program, with numerous repeat callers, and also a dad who's found his son described perfectly in the diagnostic criteria for Pathological Demand Avoidance...as usual, he was encouraged to dig even further to understand the factors contributing to his son's difficulties.

All callers on today's program...one parent struggling with getting the ball rolling on solving problems collaboratively, another facing unique challenges along the way, and still another providing an update on where things are at three years in. 

How do you recharge your batteries when your behaviorally challenging kid has you completely tapped out? New lenses can help; someone who understands can help, too. But nothing tops seeing things moving in the right direction.

Yes, the title of this program might have thrown you off, but if kids are having difficulty expressing their concerns in the Empathy step of Plan B, Dr. Greene's five finger method is worth knowing about. And you can learn about it in his responses to today's callers...

As usual, lots of territory covered on today's program, including a discussion about an increasingly known psychiatric diagnosis, Pathological Demand Avoidance.  And, as usual, Dr. Greene wasn't shy in pointing out the limitis of psychiatric disorder, PDA included.

Sometimes kids with behavioral challenges are understood at school and get the help they need...sometimes not so much. On today's program, we heard from two moms who are having a "not so much" experience...