Understanding Oppositional Defiant Disorder

At NPS we have been working with children and families for over 41 years. All children can be difficult and challenging at times. But if your child or teenager has a frequent and persistent pattern of anger, irritability, arguing, defiance or vindictiveness toward you and other authority figures, he or she may be experiencing what is called oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).

These behaviors can start as early as pre-school and present up through adolescence. With more extreme behaviors, the child/teen may be struggling with behaviors referred to as a conduct disorder (CD). Conduct disorder can start early, before age 10, or in adolescence.

Children who display early-onset conduct disorder are at greater risk for persistent difficulties, however, and they are also more likely to have troubled peer relationships and academic problems. 

Other issues would include:

  • A disregard for and aggression toward others
  • Pushing
  • Hitting and biting in early childhood
  • Bullying, cruelty and violence in adolescence. 

What is critical to know is that while these are held as two separate diagnostic labels/categories in the psychiatric field (DSM-5), Dr. Neal recognizes that these are actually symptoms of an underlying issue(s) for the child.  A label never tells the whole story nor does it give enough information to know how to help a child. The exasperating question becomes “why are you doing that?-stop it! ” Yet, the more informed, compassionate question to ask about a child who engages in such behaviors is “what happened to them? Or what is happening to them to cause these behaviors?”

We hold that when children cannot control their emotions or behaviors, there is an underlying unresolved emotional issue from past trauma or current overwhelming situation, or an underlying biochemical imbalance that needs to be addressed. We treat the whole person-mind, body and soul taking an integrative functional medicine approach.
 

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Therapists

These are our therapists who are experienced in working with ODD/CD.

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