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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
7 year old boy with behavior problems pulled from a drug addicted mom-
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development
7 year old boy with behavior problems pulled from a drug addicted mom-
by HELPTHISMOM, Jan 29, 2003 12:00AM
I have a 7 year old nephew and 9 year old niece that have been living with us for about a year. They have a mother who abuses drugs (not sure whether they ever saw it happen). They haven't seen or heard from her in about 6 months, but seem to be handling it well. We plan to adopt. The boy has started having behavior problems. Bullying, disrespecting friends and elders, deliberately ignoring rules and requests from us and teachers, not caring about any disciplinary actions- continues behavior after punishment, says he's sorry and understands after long talks but turns around and does the same thing the next day. We have tried everything we can think of. Any advice?
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Jan 29, 2003 12:00AM
, Jan 29, 2003 12:00AM
Yes. In light of what he has been through, you should not try to handle this by yourselves. His situation warrants professional intervention, and you can arrange this by scheduling an evaluation with a pediatric mental health clinician (psychologist, psychiatric social worker, or psychiatric nurse). Unless you are sure that you are "in it for the long haul", I'd be careful about committing yourself to the adoption at this point. You need to fully know what you're dealing with before making such a commitment.
