The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children

by Ross W. Greene

Paperback, 2001

Status

Available

Call number

649.153

Publication

Harper Paperbacks (2001), Edition: 2nd, 336 pages

Description

Family & Relationships. Nonfiction. HTML: Now in a revised and updated 6th edition, the groundbreaking, research-based approach to understanding and parenting children who frequently exhibit severe fits of temper and other challenging behaviors, from a distinguished clinician and pioneer in the field. What's an explosive child? A child who responds to routine problems with extreme frustration�??crying, screaming, swearing, kicking, hitting, biting, spitting, destroying property, and worse. A child whose frequent, severe outbursts leave his or her parents feeling frustrated, scared, worried, and desperate for help. Most of these parents have tried everything-reasoning, explaining, punishing, sticker charts, therapy, medication�??but to no avail. They can't figure out why their child acts the way he or she does; they wonder why the strategies that work for other kids don't work for theirs; and they don't know what to do instead. Dr. Ross Greene, a distinguished clinician and pioneer in the treatment of kids with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges, has worked with thousands of explosive children, and he has good news: these kids aren't attention-seeking, manipulative, or unmotivated, and their parents aren't passive, permissive pushovers. Rather, explosive kids are lacking some crucial skills in the domains of flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem solving, and they require a different approach to parenting. Throughout this compassionate, insightful, and practical book, Dr. Greene provides a new conceptual framework for understanding their difficulties, based on research in the neurosciences. He explains why traditional parenting and treatment often don't work with these children, and he describes what to do instead. Instead of relying on rewarding and punishing, Dr. Greene's Collaborative Problem Solving model promotes working with explosive children to solve the problems that precipitate explosive episodes, and teaching these kids the skills they lack… (more)

Media reviews

User reviews

LibraryThing member gayla.bassham
If it works, it gets a fifth star.
LibraryThing member herebedragons
#120, 2006

This is a FANTASTIC book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a defiant or easily frustrated child. Just the beginning of the book alone was really helpful to me – the author believes that most children with the sorts of issues he describes in this book (ADD, Oppositional
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Defiant Disorder, etc.) really are motivated to do well (in other words, it’s not just more discipline that is needed), and that they do well if they have the ability. If they are misbehaving, it’s likely because they don’t have the developmental skills to do any differently.

Then, the author gives some strategies for making the child’s environment “User-friendlier,” to reduce the number of tantrums and other sorts of episodes, mostly through what is basically well-defined “choose your battles” system. I loved this book.
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LibraryThing member KR2
This book was a necessity and was rather helpful. Imagine a normal, intelligent child who is able to focus for the most part, but in certain instances explodes suddenly into a rage over trivial things. The Explosive Child tells the story of such children and gives explanations of how to deal with
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such children, why they may act in such a way, and how to recognize and prevent such occurrences before they get out of control.

While you may think, "Oh no, another disorder to labe...moreThis book was a necessity and was rather helpful. Imagine a normal, intelligent child who is able to focus for the most part, but in certain instances explodes suddenly into a rage over trivial things. The Explosive Child tells the story of such children and gives explanations of how to deal with such children, why they may act in such a way, and how to recognize and prevent such occurrences before they get out of control.

While you may think, "Oh no, another disorder to label children with," Dr. Greene clearly separates the inflexible/explosive child from the pack of dysfunctional children with such disorders as ADHD, tourettes, or autism. His methods for dealing with an inflexible/explosive child require more discipline for the adult than for the child, but are logical and effective. Consequences for misbehavior to a child who already knows they are acting in an unacceptable way, could be counter-productive to developing the skills required for dealing with their inflexibility to change. Greene shows you how to recognize the signs of a meltdown before the child loses all control and tells you how to counter it with empathy and understanding.

This is a good book for all caregivers and teachers; especially those who work with preschool and grade school students. It is also important for any parent with a child that they have lost hope and patience for.
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LibraryThing member hcurrey
This program provides the rationale AND the practical steps to helping overly emotional children cope with change, disappointment, etc. While it is geared at families struggling with "explosive" children, the system works well with all children.
LibraryThing member DrT
I found this book very useful. Behaviorally, relationally and problem solving/coping skill development with a developmental consideration made this book a very good book for parents.
LibraryThing member HippieLunatic
This has been a helpful book to me, in dealing with an explosive eight-year-old boy.

Empathizing, detailing concerns, and inviting him to help me meet both of our needs helps to minimize the outbursts, and has taught me, perhaps most importantly, to understand why I am giving the rules and
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limitations I am. A parent who says no, just for the sake of establishing dominance is doing nothing worthwhile for the child. I regret that I am sometimes that parent.
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

336 p.; 5.31 inches

ISBN

0060931027 / 9780060931025

Local notes

NF 649.154 GRE

Barcode

*00333*
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