What I found with the Explosive Child Method was validation and some strength to keep going. I was facing a school that while working with me, seemed to have already formed a negative opinion of my son, and I felt like I was constantly having to repeat that he was a good kid and he needed help.
The beginning of that book scared me a little because my son wasn't as intense as the examples in it, but I moved past them and found my favorite phrase of all time. I will paraphrase (though it will seem completely common sense to some of you):
A child will do well if the child can.
Simple as that. If the child has been scolded twenty times for the same thing, you can assume that the child understands they are not supposed to do it; therefore, scolding does not help. It attacks the issues as actual executive function skill deficiencies and walks you through how to hold the right type of compromise situations so that you can teach your child (and yourself) proper problem solving techniques. This simple information helped me regrow my backbone and jump into the fray again. And this year, no one questions that my kids are good kids, they help me to try to find ways to help them be their best.:)
Anyway, I'm glad the counselor has helped and I hope things keep going well.
Last edited by Artana; 09/17/09 05:30 AM.
