Little else could be more destructive to a family unit than a child who is violent and aggressive towards their adoptive or foster parents. In this week's episode, our expert guest, Jane Mitchell, tells us that children can show superhuman strength when their fears are adrenaline-fuelled. The result can be harm to the parents and costly damage to the family home. As Jane explains, this behaviour is a symptom of the child's sense of overwhelm triggered by traumatic memories. They're not conscious of what they're doing and parents need to put into place careful plans and strategies to cope. There's plenty of good advice here on effective de-escalation techniques and Jane also refers to two courses* provided by the National Association of Therapeutic Parents (the NATP) as well as to the non-violence resistance courses available through many local authorities in the UK. The vast majority of children who behave this way learn to control their fears with the right kind of therapeutic parenting - and to move forward into a more settled way of life.
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Listen to this Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or download here.
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