Skills Training for Children with Behavior Disorders

Book excerpt: This clearly written guidebook, designed for use by both parents and therapists, targets typical problem areas for children with behavior disorders and provides background information, step-by-step instructions, and many useful worksheets and concrete examples to assist parents and therapists in skills training efforts. The parent portion of the book provides up-to-date information about the nature of behavior disorders in children, common treatment approaches, and practical suggestions. Parents are encouraged to evaluate which areas their family and child need to work on most, and many ideas are presented to make parenting and family interactions less frustrating and more productive. An additional section offers therapists suggestions on how to use the guidebook in their work with children and parents. This section delineates the theoretical underpinnings of the author's approach, reviews relevant research findings, and lays out detailed procedures for conducting skills training interventions.