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A paradigm shift for caregivers that will revolutionise the way you approach, treat or parent a child with challenging of explosive behaviours.
When you are confronted with a child who is troubled, disruptive, oppositional, defiant or angry – whether you are a parent or a teacher – it can be difficult to know the best way to support them. Traditional methods of ‘shaping’ a child’s behaviour can often be at best ineffective, at worst distressing, for child and adult alike.
Drawing on 30 years of experience, internationally known paediatric psychologist Dr Mona Delahooke describes these troubled behaviours as the ‘tip of the iceberg’, important signals that point to deeper, individual differences in the child that we need to understand and address before we can resolve behavioural challenges. Using the very latest neuroscientific research Beyond Behaviours makes the case that many children who can’t seem to behave simply don’t have the developmental capacity to do so – yet.
This book uses neuroscientific findings to help you deconstruct behaviour challenges, and to discover their cause and triggers for your child. It will show you how to apply this knowledge across a variety of behaviour spectrums, from children diagnosed with autism or other forms of neurodiversity, to those who might have been exposed to toxic stress or trauma during their early years. There are practical strategies to implement at every stage, backed up by impactful worksheets and charts, with a strong emphasis not on ‘managing’ behaviour, but instead on helping children and families build positive experiences to counteract the stress and pressure felt by everybody when you’re working, or living, with a child who has behavioural challenges.
Neuroscience-based effective tools and strategies for children labelled with:
And children who experience or have experienced:
Featuring impactful worksheets and charts, this accessible book offers professionals, educators and parents tools and techniques to reduce behavioural challenges and promote psychological resilience and satisfying, secure relationships.
Accessible, practical, warmly supportive and steeped in research and clinical expertise, Beyond Behaviours offers a break-through book which guides us – parents and caregivers alike – to the realisation that the most important tool in our toolkit is always our connection with the child standing in front of us.
"Beyond Behaviors provides the basis for a paradigm shift in understanding and treating children with disruptive behaviors. Historically, educational and therapeutic models treat anti-social and asocial behavior as motivated and incentivized. In this accessible and beautifully written volume, Dr. Delahooke pulls the veil off this myth and replaces it with a neurobiologically-informed treatment model that provides insightful directives leading to effective outcomes."
- Stephen W. Porges, PhD, Distinguished University Scientist, Indiana University, Professor of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, and author of The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe
"As a developmental psychologist, compassion teacher, and autism mom, I can whole-heartedly say this book is brilliant. Traditional methods of shaping children s behaviors typically ignore children's emotional state, at great cost to the child s ability to learn, develop, and form secure relationships. This book provides concrete ways to help understand safety as the foundation for children s learning, working with rather than against natural brain functions to maximize learning potential."
- Kristin Neff, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, and author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself
"I love this book. It will be one I give and recommend over and over. Beyond Behaviors is succinct, accessible, practical, science-based. And it s a game changer. My hope is that not only parents, educators, clinicians, and all helping professionals read it, but that it becomes required reading for professionals in training. It s time for us to use science-informed approaches to go beyond mere behaviors to support children and their caregivers, and this is the book to light the way."
- Tina Payne Bryson, PhD, LCSW, Executive Director of The Center for Connection and co-author of the bestsellers The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline
"This book will embrace every parent and professional puzzling over behavioral challenges and make you question the assumptions about their meaning and re-evaluate how to help. Dr. Delahooke reframes our understanding by integrating perspectives from development, brain science, mental health, and child and parent experiences using example after example to guide you towards insight and compassionate approaches that are respectful of neurodiversity. Beyond Behaviors will help every child and family progress, feel safe, enjoy relationships, and develop to their fullest."
- Serena Wieder, PhD, Clinical Director, Profectum Foundation, co-creator of the DIR Model, and co-author of The Child with Special Needs and Engaging Autism
"In Beyond Behaviors, Mona Delahooke, PhD, applies the Polyvagal theory developed by Stephen Porges to children, convincingly making the case that many children who can't seem to behave themselves simply don't have that developmental capacity yet, and giving us a social-emotional roadmap for how children learn to self-regulate. Delahooke guides us to the realization that children act out when they feel stressed, so the most important tool in our toolbox is always our connection with the child, which restores safety. This break-through book reframes children who exhibit "problem" behavior and challenges us as therapists, teachers and parents to shift our own paradigm so that we can help them. Highly recommended."
- Dr. Laura Markham, author of the Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids
