Anger Management Difficulties of Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder: Clinical Evaluation Protocol and Experiential Psychotherapy Guidelines

Journal Title: Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy - Year 2017, Vol 20, Issue 3

Abstract

Introduction: Oppositional defiant disorder is one of the most frequent behavioral problems of children that are referred to psychological evaluation and treatment. These children present a large number of behavioral issues, like arguing, disobeying, or talking back to their parents, teachers, or other adults, but also important emotional issues, like depressive thoughts, low self-esteem and anxiety. Objectives: The first part of the paper presents a model of clinical assessment protocol for the oppositional defiant disorder, with application in three case studies of children with important anger management issues. The second part of the paper presents an experiential psychotherapy model for the intervention with these children and their families, with application in a case study. Methods: The evaluation protocol included a semi-structured interview with parents, unstructured interview with the child, projective techniques (Draw a person/ tree/ family), Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) (Parent, Teacher and Self-Report forms), Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), CONNERS - Third Edition, (Parent, Teacher and Self-Report forms) and Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices/ Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). The therapeutic protocol is considered from the process-experiential perspective, starting with the clinical evaluation, followed by the case conceptualization. Results: The evaluation process revealed that all three children had a very high level of aggression and manifested oppositionist behaviors, associated with emotional difficulties. The oppositionist behaviors appear prior to the onset of the affective symptoms. Conclusion: The treatment for the child’s oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) should follow the pattern for emotional disorders treatment, using a child and family model of psychotherapy.

Authors and Affiliations

Geanina Cucu-Ciuhan, Aida Marina Săraru

Keywords

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  • EP ID EP245682
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How To Cite

Geanina Cucu-Ciuhan, Aida Marina Săraru (2017). Anger Management Difficulties of Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder: Clinical Evaluation Protocol and Experiential Psychotherapy Guidelines. Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy, 20(3), 57-62. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-245682