Problematic Behavioral Therapy

One of the great challenges in therapy, particularly when working with children with problematic behaviours involves engaging them in therapy in a creative way. In this work, play and fun become avenues to help them understanding their personal circumstances and learning from them too.
A certain problematic behaviour can be seen as a specific symptom of a disorder, but without the context the diagnosis will not be accurate. Therefore, it is important to question what the behaviour is pointing at. What does the child need, but is not getting that he/she needs to use that behaviour instead?
Regardless of whether the presenting problem is internalised or externalised; both can cause distress and impact in a child’s life, his/her family and environment. Given the important role of parents in a child’s life, a collaborative approach would be beneficial rather than extreme approaches—one where the therapist is neither

In the case of children, how parents, teachers or other significant people in their environment can help those children. Although during this phase psychologists have ideally drawn reasonable explanations regarding the nature and the causes of the problem; it is important to also include the strengths that the child has. This could be useful when developing an intervention plan. Depending of the main features of the problem (i.e. behavioural, physiological reactions, or cognitive) the focus of the treatment can be modified to suit each child.
Ideally, the work of a multidisciplinary team when working with children can provide the appropriate service to meet the needs of children with problematic behaviours, their family and their environment. However, this alternative may not always be feasible, hence, our responsibility as therapists is trying to integrate all the possible information to obtain a more accurate picture of the