Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

If you’re a parent of a toddler or preschooler, you might be feeling stuck in the daily power struggles and lost in the sea of conflicting parenting information about what to do. If you're an expecting or new parent, you might be struggling to manage your own stress, anxiety, or sleep problems. It is not uncommon for me to hear parents say, “I love my child, but it’s hard, because everything’s a fight.” A strategy session may be all you need to recalibrate a starting point and find your footing.

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.

ODD can be a very difficult diagnosis for any child or parent. Understanding it is important for the child or adolescent to succeed. I have experience working with children with ODD and helping them thrive at home, in the community and at school. I believe if we help the child to express their needs, appropriately and allow them to have personal power while cooperating in structured environments both the child and overall family will succeed.

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 am trained to help children and parents with this disorder

I work with children and adolescents who struggle with ODD. I have a behavioral training background and believe in treating the whole child. That means for those who are diagnosed with ODD it impacts their home, school and the community. I work with all three of those areas, consulting and treating to make sure the child/adolescent receives the best care. ODD is a diagnosis that very easily can burn out families. I provide family/ caregiver support on treatment needs.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy is one of the best treatments for Oppositional Defiant Disorder. I coach you to use play therapy skills to strengthen your bond with their child and build your child's motivation to please you. When this strong foundation is established, I coach you in using very strict and consistent discipline skills that were developed especially for children with ODD.