Every parent wants their child to be kind, thoughtful, empathetic, and well-regulated. We want our children to feel empowered to take on the daily challenges in life. As much as this may be true, we are still confronted with the struggle of varying behavioral issues. Maybe your child is moody, sad, or depressed. Maybe your child hits, pushes, or is aggressive with friends. It is even more difficult for parents who have a child with special needs who can’t talk easily to explain why they are being moody or angry. It is frustrating for both the child and the parent.
We empathize with you. Our job is to help you find a solution to these behavioral issues for a happier life for both you and your child. The key is to find the root of the problem. We do not simply focus on changing the behavior alone. For example, if your child struggles with biting other children, our goal is not only to stop the biting. If they struggle with one form of aggression, it could be easy for them to move to another form of aggression. This means if we focus on just the biting, maybe that stops but then they start hitting. Or maybe they stop biting, but then struggle with being sad. Our focus is on building a foundation for healthy development overall. We want to get to the core of regulating their behavior and mood.
The goal is to do two things at once; help the child overcome the current behavior they are struggling with and also dive deeper into why the behavior is happening so that we can build a healthy foundation from the ground up. This is something a lot of parents fail to see. They are so focused on the issue at hand, and rightfully so. These behavioral issues can be incredibly frustrating, overwhelming, and leave you feeling hopeless. However, it is crucial that you are involved in a program that works on the foundational aspects as well. Otherwise, the issue will just pop up somewhere else, in a different way. Our goal is to cover both the immediate and long-term factors. Not only do we want to teach them to not hit, bite or push. We want them to truly learn respect, care, and empathy.
We hope this inspires you to take a look at the bigger picture and get your child involved with a program that can accurately address all sides to their behavioral issues.
For hands on support applying Greenspan Floortime, please contact Jake Greenspan, jake@thefloortimecenter.com.
For online Greenspan Floortime resources, courses, and training, please go to https://stanleygreenspan.com/