Types of Behavioral Therapy for Kids

Your child seems to have more meltdowns than your friend’s kids. You know you’re not supposed to compare… but still, you wonder. Is there something you’re missing?

Perhaps you’ve come away from the pediatrician or school with the suggestion to consider a referral to behavioral therapy. Maybe you already know that your child has a diagnosis of some sort, ASD, ADHD, OCD…and you’re wondering how behavioral therapy can help.

You know there’s a way forward, but it seems murky. Behavioral therapy for kids could make all the difference, and a Christian counselor can help calm your worries.

A biblical rationale for counseling.

In general, the idea of therapy is losing its stigma within the Christian church. However, when it comes to things like behavioral therapy for kids, it can still be a tricky topic. It’s easy for people to assume that a need for behavioral therapy implies failure on the part of the parents. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Proverbs 11:14 (ESV) says, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” By seeking extra guidance and help for your child you are ensuring an “abundance of counselors.”

Today, kids are dealing with a large amount of stressors and inputs due to technology and other current events. Also, the rate of developmental disorders has never been quite so high in children. These issues have left a whole group of parents grasping for tools to address the challenges they face at home, while feeling like no one quite understands what they’re going through.

If you are struggling to know how to help your child with difficult behavior, depression, or anxiety at home, then seeking guidance is the biblical course of action.

Disciplining and discipling kids.

Christian parents are instructed to discipline their children with verses like Proverbs 29:17 (NIV) asserting, “Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire.” The word discipline might conjure images of punitive action when a child disobeys. But, both “disciple” and “discipline” come from the Latin “discere,” meaning “to learn.”

Disciplining children is as much about teaching as it is training. Parents are tasked with the job of “training up a child in the way he should go” (Prov. 22:6 ESV). If you as the parent are struggling to communicate and teach effectively or having to resort to punishment for behaviors while missing your child’s heart, you might be missing the point of the passage.

Navigating challenges with your child.

The oft-quoted passage “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4, ESV) invites parents to consider how they are interacting with their children. Ask yourself and God what it looks like to parent a child without provoking them to anger.

If your child deals with unique struggles like autism spectrum disorder or ADHD, it might look like learning new ways of evaluating and working with them. In this passage, the parent provoking their child is seen as contrary to the goal of bringing them up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Psalm 139:14 (ESV) declares, “you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Parents know this is true of their children – they are unique and valuable creations.

But simply knowing that your child is “fearfully and wonderfully made” doesn’t necessarily translate to having tools to navigate their challenges. This is where seeking wise counsel becomes one of the best things you can do to aid your parenting.

How behavioral therapy for kids helps.

Behavioral therapy for kids is a team effort between parent, child and therapist to teach new strategies for a huge variety of challenges. Depending on the child’s needs, a therapist might use a variety of modalities. The goal of behavioral therapy will be to give the parents and child strategies to implement in the scenarios that are causing the most distress.

For example, behavioral therapy for kids with ADHD focuses on creating structures to help manage the impulsivity that is so typical for children with ADHD. In this specific scenario, starting behavioral therapy early on reduces the amount of negative interactions that a parent has with their child and sets them both up for success.

Especially for children with a known diagnosis of something like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or ADHD, behavioral therapy intervention early on can have an incredibly positive effect on the child’s perception of themselves. Setting up a differently wired child for success pays dividends when they are not dealing with as much shame and frustration because they’re expected to “behave” in the same way as other children without these challenges.

Another important benefit of behavioral therapy for kids is that it provides parents with skills to communicate helpful frameworks and information to other care providers and schools. Having all the adults that regularly interact with a child work toward shared goals results in less frustration for everyone.

Types of behavioral therapy for kids.

There are many types of behavioral therapy for kids. The type of care your therapist provides will be dependent on both their own training and your family’s concerns.

Applied behavior analysis.

This type of therapy is focused on analyzing the circumstances surrounding a behavior to figure out what the cause is, how to prevent it and how to manage it. Rather than focusing on the behavior itself, it focuses on the environment that creates or minimizes the challenging behavior. This form of therapy is especially helpful as an intervention for children with autism, who can be profoundly impacted by their environment.

Behavioral activation.

This form of therapy is primarily used to treat depression. It tries to make links between avoiding certain things and negative mood affect. The goal is to try to help the individual see that engaging in activity creates a positive feedback loop.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT).

This is one of the well-known forms of “talk therapy.” It helps identify and balance thoughts and behaviors. It might not be the first line approach for younger children, but parents can benefit from learning some of these skills and using them in working with their children.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

DBT has “radical acceptance” as one of its core components. This doesn’t mean that staying there is the goal, but rather that you’re working to fully acknowledge what you’re actually struggling with so that you can create and maintain change. This is usually a behavioral intervention for older adolescents.

Exposure and response prevention.

OCD or anxiety disorders can benefit from this sort of intervention. This is when a therapist works to create scenarios with gradual introduction to something that creates distress.

Habit reversal.

This therapy is focused on learning to work with tics and other repetitive behavior. It focuses on dealing with urges or compulsions.

Parent-child interaction therapy.

The goal is to restructure how you relate to your child. This can also be referred to as family therapy and is focused on helping to change the dynamics of your interaction with your child.

Play therapy.

Play is the way that young children process and learn, so play therapists are trained to be able to create an environment that is conducive to processing the difficult things a child is experiencing. This therapy is often used for children dealing with trauma, difficult medical procedures or very young children.

Christian counseling for kids.

We know that you want the best for your child. We are here to help, and would love to talk to you more about the specific challenges you’re facing. Counselors often work in networks, so they can often provide helpful resources to find the care you need.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out. Early intervention and tools help parents and their children to spend less time feeling frustrated and ashamed. We will help you start moving toward solutions that will work for your family.