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Extremely disobedient behavior
Dr. Klein-
Recently, my 7 yr old daughter began having extreme temper tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants, to the point of not even being able to calm her down and speak to her in a rational manner. She has always been head-strong but it is over the top now. With that, she all of a sudden started not wanting to go to her room alone, get dressed, take showers or anything else where she is alone. This has started to affect her schooling as she refuses to get ready for school in the morning without assistance, but I have two smaller children to get ready as well so I can't attend to her every moment. We have tried talking to her, punishments, rewards, everything and nothing has worked. We are at our wits end. Her teacher said she is an excellent student and good in school and has no behavior problems there. What could be causing this behavior? Do you think we should seek professional help for her? Any advice you could provide is appreciated. Thanks!
Thank you for your question. Strong willed kids sure can make parenting challening. Some parenting books that might help include Ross Greene's Explosive Child, Alan Kazdin's Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child and Jim Fay and Foster Cline's Parenting with Love and Logic. Locally, an excellent child psychologist, Dr. Pam McCaskill offers a workshop called, "Secrets to Parenting the Strong Willed Child." Her website is www.drpam.org In a situation like you described, the possiblilty of anxiety should be examined.
You might find a consultation with a child psychologist or licensed therapist to be very helpful. A call to the pediatrican is often a great start too and they can provide you with local referrals. Bottom line- a lot of great options exist to help you with these challenges and they can be successfully addressed. Good luck!
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