Coaching the Parents of Oppositional Youth

Presenters:

Jim Keim, M.S.W. LCSW

About this Workshop:

This workshop presents a highly effective, four-step intervention for oppositional behavior that works in part by reviving the adults in the system to respond in more soothing, warm, and effective ways. An unusual aspect of the therapy is its focus on the different perceptions of power that oppositional youth and adults have. The concepts of process orientation, tagging, two-tiered consequences, and a reinterpretation of hierarchy are reviewed in detail.

Why is it that discipline techniques that work well with the majority of youth seem only to escalate confrontations with oppositional ones? This workshop answers this question and provides non-confrontational techniques proven to work in homes, school, institutions, and other settings. A central part of the intervention is understanding the authority styles of the adults interacting with oppositional youth. When these adults have been abused by authority themselves, they seem to have particular difficulty and pain in dealing with oppositional youth and especially with therapists that fail to take such experiences into account. Another central part of this intervention is the exploration of the world of the oppositional youth. We will review the different manner with which

oppositional youth view confrontation and the way this viewpoint serves to escalate confrontation with well-meaning adults. We will also look into the interplay of anxiety, information processing differences, and attachment issues. This workshop is especially interested in how to motivate tired, angry parents, teachers and others to use soothing techniques with oppositional youth.

The concepts of process orientation, tagging, two-tiered consequences, and a reinterpretation of hierarchy are reviewed in detail.

Goals and Objectives

to be able to identify the three major diagnostic criteria of oppositional behavior

to be able to employ a four step intervention to treat oppositional behavior

to be able to join therapeutically with an oppositional youth without creating coalitions against other adults

to be able to coach adults in backing off from unhelpful confrontations

to be able to coach adults in the reworking of rules and consequences so that they fit the needs of oppositional youth

to be able to differentiate between high and low hierarchy youth and to tailor therapy accordingly

to be able to tailor therapy to the authority style of the adult that one is coaching

to be able to identify process and outcome orientations in interactional style

to be able to differentiate between cooperative consequences, non-cooperative consequences, and tagging

Example of Program Overview

Course Outline
9:00 - 10:30 a.m.	Redefining oppositional behavior from a therapist's perspective, Video of 10 year old child
10:30 - 10:40 a.m.	Break
10:40 - 11:00 a.m.	Small Group Exercises
11:00 - 12:00 p.m.	The Four Step Intervention, Steps One and Two of Intervention

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.	Lunch

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.	Steps Three and Four of Intervention
2:00 - 2:30 p.m.	Small Group Exercises
2:30 - 2:45 p.m.	Break
2:45 - 4:00 p.m.	Video Examples of intervention, discussion

Continuing Education Units

6 Continuing Education Units approved for MFT's, LCSWs, as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Provider #PCE 14, & by the California Board of Registered Nurses, BRN #2062

This course has been approved for 6 hours of MCEP credit by the California Psychological Association Accrediting Agency. Course Code: MEN006-0086-003

Cost: $125

To Register:

	WORKSHOP FULL - REGISTRATION CLOSED!
	Register by Telephone: (650) 321-3055 During regular business hours: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm PST Monday-Friday

How to contact us:

Mental Research Institute
555 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto, CA. 94301
USA

Phone: (650)321-3055
Fax: (650) 321-3785
Email: mri@mri.org

For information about transportation and accommodations in Palo Alto
and the San Francisco Bay Area, visit the MRI Visitor Information page.