When Your Client is Defiant: Simple Strategies to Manage Defiant or Challenging Behavior

Children with difficult temperaments and those with developmental delays may have learned to express their dissatisfaction with challenging and defiant behavior like whining, anger, temper tantrums or bad language. They sometimes engage in negative behavior or “misbehave” because they do not have the necessary skills – communicative or otherwise – to make their needs known. This can be a cause of major frustration for parents who may respond angrily in kind. It can be equally frustrating for clinicians. Our time with our young clients is often short, so we need to be able to manage challenging and defiant behavior effectively. The purpose of this book is to teach clinicians effective and practical strategies to manage challenging and defiant behavior in their young clients. The book will also focus on how clinicians can educate parents on how to manage difficult behavior and avoid power struggles at home.