News Articles for Professionals2017-06-27T13:02:02+00:00
  • Angry boy sitting with therapist

Articles for Professionals

Removing the Pressure Sometimes Can Get the Behavior You Want and Quickly

Imagine a situation in which you would like your child to do something but he or she refuses or just does not do it without even refusing.  Ok, no imagination is needed.  If you have children or you have lived with another human of any age, you have all the examples you need.  People do not do what we want all the time and those people includes adults (friends, partners, relatives), adolescents, and children.  It even includes us—often we do not engage in the behaviors we want ourselves to do—maybe exercise more, eat less of a certain food, and so on.  Behavior change is a fascinating topic and there are several techniques that are effective based on excellent science.  I will refer to some of [...]

By |July 28th, 2020|For Parents, For Professionals|

Managing Parenting Challenges of Social Distancing, Confinement, and Isolation

We have learned by now that one of the best ways to protect ourselves and others from the coronavirus is to distance ourselves physically from people and to stay at home with only occasional outings for essentials.  These practices translate to being confined to our homes all day and all night, sometimes without the ability to go out for a walk. The impact of confinement on our mental health can vary greatly based on all sorts of factors including the physical space of the home or apartment, the number of people in the home, their ages and ability to function independently, amount of caregiving that is needed, whether and how much home schooling is needed, resources for connecting with the outside world, and many other [...]

By |April 13th, 2020|For Parents, For Professionals|

My work for Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies

Dr. Alan Kazdin recounts how he came to be a psychologist and discusses where his emphasis is now: studying models of treatment delivery with the idea of completely changing who, and how many, can access treatment. He notes that "most people in need of psychological help receive no treatment." This is based on current delivery models. He's hoping to find ways to make delivery scalable and accessible, overcoming the current inherent limits.

By |January 13th, 2019|For Parents, For Professionals|

Developing Persistence, Effort, and Goal Directed Behavior in Children and Adolescents

Parents often are concerned about their children’s motivation and ability to focus on and stay with a task to achieve a goal.  In fact, surveys show that most parents, among diverse ethnic groups and income levels, want their children to be hardworking. Clearly, parents have recognized the importance of characteristics such a persistence.  Scientific research has shown that the ability to persist on tasks toward a goal, sometimes referred to as “grit,” predicts all sorts of favorable outcomes years later. Whether measured by questionnaires in which parents are asked to characterize their children or by directly observing how children perform on difficult or challenging tasks, we have learned that persistence makes a difference in life.  Individuals who are higher in persistence are more likely to [...]

By |June 13th, 2018|For Parents, For Professionals|

Myths of Punishment

As the new year is beginning, many of us begin to think about what changes we can make in our lives.  Parenting is such an important job, and we often hope that we are being the best parents we can be. Punishment for misbehavior comes so naturally to us.  We barely even think about it in part because our brain is hard wired to pick up negative behaviors (not listening, arguing) and do something about them, much more than it is to notice positive behaviors (following directions, playing nicely) and do something about those. Despite our inclination, punishment is not very helpful in accomplishing our goals as parents (or in society) when that goal is just to get rid of some behavior. Maybe the single [...]

Helping Clients with School Problem Behaviors

Clinicians working with families and children are often faced with the tall order of helping improve school problem behaviors.  It is a long school day with many factors and many different people involved. One way to tackle this seemingly impossible task is to use the very effective tool of simulation.  Simulation involves role-playing a scenario, rather than just talking about it, with a child in which they handle a problem well.  The key in this is to be sure to praise and reinforce this role-play immediately. You can use this technique in your session with the child, however, it will only be helpful if it is practiced repeatedly.  Teach the parent how to conduct these role-plays at home with their child between your sessions. The [...]

By |September 1st, 2016|For Professionals|
“The Kazdin Method® is a great opportunity for  nurses, pediatricians, psychologists, social workers, teachers, or anyone who has the capacity to connect with the parent of a child who has behavioral issues. Proven techniques are perfect for professionals who may be struggling with their own client’s success but has not been trained in Kazdin’s PMT.”

— Dr. Alan E. Kazdin

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