Articles by Dr. Jacob Azerrad

Myths about Behavior often repeated in Therapy

Psychotherapy for children is often based on uncovering and understanding "emotional disturbances," a process we are told may go on for many years. The failure to improve during this time is seen as a failure by the patient, rather than the therapist. While foregoing opportunities to seek help elsewhere, parents often watch as the problems grow worse. This kind of therapy is "too much talk" and is ineffective compared to behavioral therapy which "catches them being good."

Problem Eaters don't need more Attention

Picky eaters thrive on the extra attention they get for making an issue of food. Often the best solution for this kind of problem is to stop giving this attention, and to let the natural contingencies (if you don't eat, you get hungry!) come into play.

Turning Competition into Caring

Problems of jealousy, sibling rivalry, and teasing are sometimes the result of not sufficiently recognizing and encouraging sibling caring. When parents pay attention to positive interactions between children, and deemphasize the negative, good things happen!

Parents need to encourage thirst for learning

"Hyperactivity," "Learning Disorder," and "Attention Deficit Disorder" are all labels for the same old behaviors - psychologists just change the label every five years or so! Why do some children have trouble learning to read? The answers aren't simple, but it may be that parents can do more to encourage learning.

Knowing when to Administer Emotional Medicine

Praise for children is a powerful "emotional medicine." But like other kinds of medicine, there are cautions for using it effectively. Too much indiscrimant praise is not a good thing, any more than too little. Praise must be specific to be effective. And parent's should avoid praise that is actually criticism.

There's too much talk about Child's Nightmares

Obviously a child who has a nightmare should be comforted and reassured. However, long talks about them may actually do more harm than good by providing a big payoff (increased caring and closeness to the parents) to the child for thinking about them, and by accidentally communicating that there may actually be something real to be afraid of.

Children with no friends….An emotional problem or a learning problem?

Some children alienate other children and have no friends. But the notion of mental illness is not particularly helpful in dealing with this “problem of living.” Instead, “friend-winnning” is a class of behavior that can be taught.

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