Challenging Behaviors

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Free Webinar

Managing Challenging Behaviors

The onset and maintenance of child misbehaviors are multifaceted and warrant clear understanding to effect positive change and promote individual and family functioning. In this webinar you will learn: 1) The common catalysts and behavioral principles associated with child misbehavior AND 2) Evidence-based positive parenting strategies that strengthen compliance and family cohesion. Topics here will be elaborated through Kyle Cassidy’s 4-week Caregiver Support Group with the same title.

Presenter: Kyle Cassidy, LCSW
Moderator: Mari Kurahashi, M.D., MPH

Parenting Classes

Managing Challenging Behaviors

Winter 2025 Registration Coming Soon!

In our 4-week parenting class, Kyle Cassidy will take a deeper dive into managing challenging behaviors through the use of positive parenting strategies. This series incorporates didactic teaching, parent activities, and practice to help parents identify tools they can use to manage their child’s challenging behavior. Specifically, caregivers will receive more intensive support to shape their child and/or adolescents targeted behaviors through parent management strategies such as:

  • Creating a positive reinforcement system
  • Selective attention/ active ignoring
  • Learning to effectively compromise

$150 per Caregiver (Please inquire via email if you are interested in learning about our scholarship option: parentingcenter@stanford.edu)

Class best suited for ages 4-13 years old

Supportive Parenting for Little Ones with Big Feelings

Winter 2025 Registration Coming Soon!

The toddler years are a time of tremendous growth that can be both exciting and challenging! Join Dr. Reichert in this 4-week parenting class to learn how to support the *big emotions* that are common for this age and how to care for yourself in the process. Based on the principles of Parent Child Interaction Therapy for Toddlers (Girard, et al. 2018), this class focuses on teaching specialized parenting skills that promote healthy attachment, emotion and behavioral regulation, and listening skills. Each class will offer specific skills, parent activities, and practice to help you feel more equipped with supporting your toddler’s emotional and behavioral development and your own emotional well-being at the same time.

Recommended for caregivers of toddlers 12 months - 4 years old.

$150 per Caregiver (Please inquire via email if you are interested in learning about our scholarship option: parentingcenter@stanford.edu)

Individual Treatment

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

PCIT is an evidence-based treatment for young children with behavioral challenges ages 2-7. PCIT has two treatment phases. The first phase focuses on establishing and increasing warmth in your relationship with your child through learning and applying skills proven to help children feel calm, secure in their relationships with their parents, and good about themselves. The second phase of treatment will teach parents how to manage their child’s most challenging behaviors while remaining confident, calm, and consistent in their approach to discipline. During the second phase, parents will learn evidence-based strategies to help their child accept their limits, follow their directions, respect house rules, and demonstrate appropriate behavior in public.

Benefits of PCIT include:

  • Decreased frequency, severity, and/or duration of tantrums
  • Decreased activity levels
  • Decreased negative attention-seeking behaviors (such as whining and bossiness)
  • Decreased parental frustration
  • Increased feelings of security, safety, and attachment to the primary caregiver
  • Increased attention span
  • Increased self-esteem
  • Decreased frequency, severity, and/or duration of aggressive behavior
  • Decreased frequency of destructive behavior (such as breaking toys on purpose)
  • Decreased defiance
  • Increased compliance with adult requests
  • Increased respect for house rules
  • Improved behavior in public
  • Increased parental calmness and confidence

To Make an Appointment: Call Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at (650) 723-5511

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy – Toddler (PCIT-T)

ages 12-36 months old

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Toddlers (PCIT-T) is a science-based parenting program that addresses and prevents behavioral problems in toddlers and helps foster healthy child development. PCIT-T focuses on social and emotional development, including emotion regulation, behavior management, teaching listening skills, and promoting language.

How does PCIT-T work?

  • Parent-child sessions, meeting weekly or bi-weekly.
  • Caregivers are taught the PRIDE skills (Praise, Reflect, Imitate, Describe, Enjoyment) and the CARES skills (Come in, Assist, Reassure, Emotion Validation, and Soothe). These skills promote positive child behaviors and emotion regulation in young children.
  • Caregivers learn how to teach listening skills to their young children through Tell-Show-Try Again-Guide and encourage language development. The PCIT-T therapist helps caregivers manage their child’s big emotions in many settings.
  • Parents receive live, sensitive, and supportive coaching from the therapist so parenting skills are acquired rapidly.
     

Who is PCIT-T for?

Toddlers and young children, ages 12-36 months old, who display any of the following concerns:

  • Fussiness (e.g., screaming, whining, crying)
  • Tantrums
  • Aggression (e.g., hitting, biting, pinching)
  • Anger, frustration, head-banging
  • Attachment difficulties (e.g., rejection of a parent, difficulty to comfort)
  • Separation anxiety or withdrawal from parent
  • Parental stress (e.g., anxiety, dissatisfaction, difficulty coping, lack of confidence)
  • Developmental concerns (e.g., autistic behaviors, language problems)
  • Child abuse and neglect

To Make an Appointment: Call Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at (650) 723-5511

Parent Management Training (PMT)

Evidence-based treatment aimed at reducing children’s challenging behaviors, building adaptive functioning skills, and improving the often-strained parent-child relationship. Parents participate in weekly sessions to learn specialized skills targeting problematic behaviors. Sessions involve presenting a principle or theme, discussing its relevance at home, developing skills in relation to the child’s behavior, and practicing those skills.

To Make an Appointment: Call Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at (650) 723-5511

Wellness Resources

Mindfulness practices can reduce stress and cultivate wellness for parents and children. The Stanford Mindfulness Program offers classes for parents and teens as well as recorded guided mindfulness meditations through the SPC website and YouTube channel. 

EVENTS

16th Annual Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) Conference - UPDATE: Conference has been postponed. 

2024 Bay Area Adult Autism/DD Conference - 12/7/24 at the Li Ka Shing Conference Center, Stanford, CA. Register here!

Mindfulness for Parents Class. Click here for details and registration

Positive Parenting During COVID-19 Series  for recorded webinars, click here

Autism Parent Support Group  Now via Zoom until further notice. Meets on second Mondays from 7-8:30pm (Sept.-June). To be added to the monthly email with participant zoom info, click here.

Stanford Parenting Center Classes