Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

I love working with "naughty" children. Not because I enjoy seeing parents stressed out - I understand how taxing it can be to parent a strong willed child. Rather, I love working with these families because I have seen over and over again the radical shift in parents lives when they learn PCIT and how to channel their child's defiance against them into resilience and perseverance with them. "Naughtiness" is just a sign that peace and warmth can come back to the family with PCIT.

I have a history of working with children with ODD and their parents. I work with both the client and their family to help them understand how to better communicate their needs to reduce fighting, aruging, and tears.

I have been trained in curriculums, intervention, and parenting practices that are aimed at assisting children experiencing and displaying anger, defiance, and/ or ADHD symptoms.

Research has consistently demonstrated the effectiveness of Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) for treating children 2-7 years of age with Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

I have experience working in a school- based setting and offered crisis support to children and teens with a history of behavioral problems. Used the nationally recognized Teaching Family Model to assist youth with learning social skills, anger management, goal setting and basic living skills.

When children act out persistently so that it causes serious problems at home, in school, or with peers, they may be diagnosed with ODD. For younger children, the treatment with the strongest evidence is behavior therapy training for parents, where a therapist helps the parent learn effective ways to strengthen the parent-child relationship and respond to the child’s behavior. Dr. Edwards provides behavioral parent training online.

I have worked for over a year with adolescents and families with an ODD diagnosis. Behavioral interventions, parent-child interaction therapy, and parenting classes are some of what I provide for my clients.