Over the years, Dr. Davenport has enjoyed helping improve the lives of thousands of strong-willed individuals and their families. He takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of the family and individual in order to reduce stress and produce more harmony at home.
He understands that “determined” children and teens truly want their parents and other adults to be in control, they just don’t want to give up whatever control they have. Sometimes, in order to maintain their determined nature, they must impulsively disobey. Dr. Davenport understands the difference between staying true to one’s temperament and often misdiagnosed oppositional-defiant disorder or other maladies in these individuals.
Addressing All Needs
Determined individuals most often benefit from an approach that addresses all of their needs at home and school. Dr. Davenport offers an individualized approach that includes a combination of services and solutions.
Parent and Child/Teen Education
Because children and teens with this very specific temperament can be misdiagnosed with oppositional-defiant disorder or other conditions, Dr. Davenport believes it is important that these individuals and their families understand the specific strengths and challenges associated with this strong temperament.
It is critical that each person involved in their care understand that each child/teen is born with his or her temperament and that all temperaments are strengths. Based on this understanding, he helps parents and determined individuals make a comprehensive plan to maintain strengths while addressing challenges.
Parenting Strategies
Determined children/teens and their families often benefit from a different type of discipline aimed at better addressing temperament and behavioral needs at home. The goals of this approach include:
1. Increasing parental knowledge and management skills for the determined child/teen’s behavior.
2. Improving child/teen’s compliance with parental commands, directives, and rules.
3. Reducing parent-child conflicts and parenting stress in order to improve family functioning.
4. Improving and maintaining the relationship: once determined individuals have a strong relationship with their family, they will work diligently to maintain that relationship.
A multifaceted and customized approach is developed to meet each child/teen’s unique needs.
Child/Teen Strategies
Your strong-willed child or teen has many strengths: Dr. Davenport’s goal is to emphasize and build her strengths while addressing the challenges that cause her problems. He doesn’t want to change your child’s determined temperament: he wants to give her the ability to stay determined while maintaining relationships. Child/Teen strategies include stopping and thinking before disobeying, learning to argue from another’s perspective, and developing the ability to do what’s expected in order to stay connected to others.
Research-based Recommendations for Educators
Educational recommendations to address your child or teen’s specific temperament needs and related behavioral challenges at school.
Specific recommendations are made based on the unique temperament and behavioral difficulties identified by you and your child’s educators.
Recommendations are based on educational research about what works from numerous institutions including the University of Toronto, the New Hampshire Center for Reading and Attention Disorders, and the Research Institute for Learning and Development.
Collaborative Care
As needed and with your written permission, Dr. Davenport can help facilitate your collaboration with your child’s educators and other professionals in order to address specific needs.
Interested?
To learn more about this comprehensive approach, call 817.421.8780 to set up an initial consultation.
Read Dr. Davenport’s articles outlining his research-based view and strategies for helping you help your strong-willed or determined child or teen.
____________________________________________________________________
(c) 2010-2015, Monte W. Davenport, Ph.D.
