How is psychotherapy for disobedient adolescents?

Psychological treatments, as is evident, depend to a great extent on the population to which they are focused.

Therefore, there are many possibilities when it comes to therapy. In this case we are going to focus on treatments focused on the child and adolescent population, more specifically those of adolescent age, whose behavior is marked by disobedience.

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Possible psychological disorders associated with disobedience

The work of psychologists has to constantly adapt to the type of patient to whom it has to help. Therefore, when we ask ourselves what psychotherapy is like for disobedient adolescents, we must take into account consider what are the characteristics of this group, since they are the ones that will mark the way of doing therapy.

Adolescence is often a turbulent time in people's lives. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of them, at this stage, begin to manifest some alterations of the conduct, which frequently results in disobedience to authority, represented mainly by their own fathers.

One of the psychopathologies that they can generate is oppositional defiant disorder, characterized, effectively, by a negative attitude, defiance and disobedience to parents, teachers and any other person who may represent an authority for them. In data from past years, such as 2016, the prevalence of this pathology was between 3% and 8% of Spanish adolescents.

Before answering what psychotherapy for disobedient adolescents is like, we must know these and other data, which are of great relevance to the subject at hand. Returning to oppositional defiant disorder, this pathology is especially frequent in males, with two to three times more cases being found than in female adolescents.

But it is not the only psychopathology that can negatively influence the behavior of young people. Another example is that of conduct disorder, which also affects some teenagers. In this case, the individuals who suffer from it constantly transgress all norms, so it is evident that their attitude towards authority is one of absolute disobedience.

Conduct disorder is another one that we must take into account when we consider what psychotherapy is like for disobedient adolescents. For this disorder, we found that the prevalence is also higher in men than in women. In the total adolescent population, it is estimated that between 1.5% and 3.4% of individuals suffer from this disease.

Nor should we forget about attention deficit hyperactivity disorderSince, even for other reasons, it also causes the adolescent to not obey authority on many occasions. As in the other examples we have seen, this pathology is more common in men. Regarding the total, the studies conclude that there would be from 3% to 7% of adolescents affected by ADHD.

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The keys to psychotherapy for disobedient adolescents

After a first introduction that has allowed us to approach the problem that concerns us, knowing some of the disorders that trigger this type of behavior, we are now going to delve into the question of what adolescent psychotherapy is like disobedient.

To do this, we are going to review what would be the keys to this matter.

1. The diagnosis

In order to carry out psychological therapy according to the needs of the minor, the psychologist will have to carry out an evaluation that allows him to make a clinical diagnosis. In it you can indicate the type of disorder, if any, that the adolescent is suffering. It could be one of those that we have seen in the previous point or another that was also influencing her behavior.

Likewise, you must estimate the influence of external factors that could be aggravating said problem. One of the usual ones is the consumption of substances such as alcohol, tobacco or other drugs. The effects caused by some of these substances, as well as abstinence from them, when you have a certain dependence, could increase antisocial behaviors, such as disobedience.

The sooner a good diagnosis can be made, the sooner the mental health professional can draw up an action plan to improve the adolescent's behavior and therefore, her quality of life and that of the people around her.

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2. The treatment

The next phase will be the treatment itself. We are, therefore, at the heart of the answer to what psychotherapy for disobedient adolescents is like. Obviously, it is not a simple or unique answer, as it will depend essentially on the diagnosis that has been previously issued.

In that sense, we can already intuit that there is no single way of proceeding to tackle the problem of disobedience. Even with the same diagnosis, two professionals, especially if they belong to psychological currents different, they will be able to adopt very different ways of acting, both being able to succeed in achieving the objective.

What this means is that, when we talk about what psychotherapy is like for disobedient adolescents, we must be aware that the The answer will depend on the patient himself, his individual conditions, the psychologist in charge of helping him heal and the techniques chosen by the patient. the same.

Therefore, there are multiple possible answers that we can give to this question, because, although there will be cases with similar characteristics, the truth is that each of them will have a treatment totally conditioned to the patient, the therapist and their respective particular contexts.

3. Parents

An element that should never be forgotten when dealing with the question of how is psychotherapy for disobedient adolescents, is that of the figure of the parents. Parents are generally the usual authority figure for teens. Therefore, if they are displaying disobedient behavior, the parents are most likely affected by this issue.

Therefore, and in order to achieve the most effective therapy, the psychologist must work, not only with the adolescent, but also with his father and mother, or the people who are his legal guardians. On many occasions, acts of disobedience are generated and / or maintained by an imbalance in the relationship between the patient and her parents.

That is why it becomes essential analyze this relationship to study the points where friction is being generated and be able to propose solutions in this regard. Although it always depends on the diagnosis and the chosen treatment, as we have already seen, we are going to describe one of the possible techniques that can be proposed so that both work together.

4. Techniques

It's all about the token economy. Although this is a technique used more frequently in children, if it is adapted appropriately it can also be useful with adolescents. This is a suitable technique to achieve behavior modifications through conditioning operant, so it can serve as an example of what adolescent psychotherapy is like disobedient.

The first thing parents should do is identify all the elements that the adolescent enjoys, which are provided by themselves. The most frequent are the use of the telephone or computer, internet connection, pay, video games, etc. So far, the youngest had enjoyed all of them in a more or less free way.

By introducing the token economy, this situation changes. What is done is to put a price on each of these activities or elements, but not in money, but in chips, which will be a currency symbolic that the adolescent will be able to obtain in exchange for carrying out these tasks, which he previously refused and therefore showed disobedience.

The objective is obvious: motivate the minor to obey and comply with the designated activities, since he will perceive that by doing so he will be able to get the tokens that will allow him to "buy" his privileges, which you previously took for granted but now cost you. The point is that this cost ends up being reduced, precisely, to the obedience that it did not show before.

In this way, and under the criteria of operant conditioning, we can shed light on the question of how is the psychotherapy for disobedient adolescents, with a technique as well known and effective as the economy of records. It is important to repeat that this is just an example of a tool.

The choice of the same and of the therapy in general, as we have already said, is a matter that will depend entirely of the professional in question and of his criteria, after observing the characteristics of the patient and his environment.

Bibliographic references:

• Céspedes, A. (2007). Kids with tantrums, defiant teens. How to manage conduct disorders in children. Editions B. Group Z.
• Gil-Iñiguez, A. (2014). Intervention in a case of an adolescent with behavior problems. Journal of Clinical Psychology with children and adolescents.
• Matalí, J. (2016). Adolescents with behavioral disorders. How can we detect them? What is to be done? Barcelona: Sant Joan de Déu Hospital.
• Navarrete, L., Ossa, C. (2013). Parenting styles and quality of family life in adolescents with disruptive behaviors. Psychological sciences.
• Soler, F., Herrera, J.P., Buitrago, S., Barón, L. (2009). Token economy program at home. Diversitas.