My Kid is Driving Me Nutz!

Do you ever find yourself baffled about why your child acts out, over and over, despite knowing it drives you crazy? Do you ever feel helpless or frustrated because you just can't make sense of your child's need to misbehave? If you feel challenged more often than not, then you are not alone.

Online parenting advice or parent coaching can help you understand your child's behavior and can help you feel more in control and calmer. Although poor behavior can be downright annoying, you can begin to develop more patience, tolerance, and skill to deal with behavior issues in empowering ways when you begin to comprehend why your child is doing what he is doing.

Parent Coaching Tips

What would a parenting coach or a therapist say? “Let’s keep it simple." Consider this straight-forward parenting advice:

• Most parents fall prey to habitual reactivity before observing and trying to understand likely reasons as to why their child is misbehaving.
• A good deal of bad behavior is actually an attempt to communicate something very different than what we parents are seeing on the surface. Take a breath, and try to step back into family counselor mode.
• It is our job as parents to play detective and decipher what the misbehavior is attempting to convey.
• Awareness of what is driving your child's misbehavior can help you recognize what’s underneath the surface noise, more effectively address the real issue, and facilitate desired change. Looking for the real feelings behind your child’s actions can be hard to do on the spur of the moment, but read on for more advice.

Parenting Advice and Coaching, 1-2-3

Here are a few counseling/parenting tips on how to transcend the craziness and redirect behavior on a deeper, more sustainable level. An expert in parent coaching or a therapist can help you put these approaches into every day actions.

1. LISTEN for what your child is trying to communicate underneath his misbehavior. What does he really need? Does he have a fear of losing something or not getting something? Is there resentment or feelings of guilt, shame, embarrassment, or anger? Does he feel heard? Did he have a bad day at school or fight with a friend? etc... What’s the motivation and source of energy behind the misbehavior?!?!
2. IDENTIFY the goal(s) your child is trying to achieve. What is the end result being pursued through his misbehavior? Think of it as “purposeful behavior" and investigate the motivation from this standpoint.
3. After drawing some conclusions in #1 and #2, Coach/Teach/Facilitate new and more effective ways of behaving and communicating to get needs met. Healing family therapy can work best right in the home, between parents and children. Addressing the deeper and real issues will not only resolve immediate conflict but also build/reinforce the priceless parent-child bond while teaching self-reliant cooperation.

Parent coaching, behavior programs, and online parenting advice solutions can truly empower parents dealing with kids’ behavior problems. Along the same lines as a family counselor, they often help parents and children find a unified solution to achieving esteem-building behavior in ways that benefit the whole family!