Tip of the Week: Look at What Happens Before and After the Behavior

Parents often describe challenging behavior by saying, “It came out of nowhere”. One helpful thing therapists can do is to help parents slow down and look for patterns. Understanding what happens before and after a behavior can provide important information about what a child may be communicating, avoiding, seeking, or having difficulty managing.

One Idea

Teach parents to use a simple A-B-C (Antecendent-Behavior-Consequence) approach to looking at behavior. Ask them to consider what happened before the behavior, what the behavior looked like, and what happened right after the behavior. The therapist can work with the family to identify patterns and find strategies to help prevent the behaviors from occurring in the first place.

Try This This Week

When a parent describes a challenging behavior, dive into a more in-depth look at what happens before, during and after the behaviors. Help the parents identify one pattern they can watch for during the week. Offer data sheets or mini-journals to help them keep track of behavior patterns, then you can look at the information together the next week to develop meaningful solutions.