The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child

by Alan E. Kazdin

Book Overview

From Alan E. Kazdin, a Yale University psychology and child psychiatry professor, The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child is a lifesaving handbook for parents of children who are occasionally, or too often, “out of control.”Most child-behavior books are filled with advice that sounds reasonable, fits with what parents already believe about child-rearing, and is -- as Dr. Kazdin proves -- guaranteed to fail. The Kazdin Method...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0547085826
• ISBN13: 9780547085821
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Not my favorite book

I am not fond of anything else in this book besides the catch your child being good strategy. Some rewards fine but its is all about rewards and stickers and none of it offered helpful things to try. I prefer Dr. Douglas Riley.

positive reinforcement works

if you're tired of yelling, hitting and generally just being not nice to your child in order to get him/her to behave, this book is for you. this book taught me that being kind and reserving unpleasant (but not mean) punishments for unwanted behavior works! it seems almost too simple/easy to actually work, but trust me it's all in the finer points of the technique. it tamed my two wild boys when nothing else would.

REAL help for any parent - based on real science - If you buy one parenting book, make it this one.

I am a mother of 6 strong minded, intelligent, stubborn children, and this is the best, most helpful parenting book I have ever read. The things I love about this book are; 1. Kazdin's methods are based on years of scientific research, not just compiled opinions about what "the experts" think "should" work with children. 2. This is real world stuff that any parent with an open mind can do - and even if you just do SOME of it, IT STILL WORKS. 3. IT WORKS. QUICKLY. The techniques outlined in this book can be applied to all different types of kids, all different ages & severity of problems, and it sets up a positive environment that everyone can feel good about. 4. Kazdin gives very specific examples and varied scenarios for each segment. I can't imagine that ANY parent would not benefit from this book. If I could give this more than 5 stars, I would.

positive discipline

This book is a wonderful guideline for positive discipline. After reading this book our family dynamic changed for the better. My 3 and 5 year olds have responded great to high fives, hugs, and their sticker charts for accomplishing goals of going to bed, listening, talking nicely, and sharing. Thank you Dr. Kazin for sharing this method of discipline.

Finally!

My first child is an "easy" child, but my second child MORE than makes up for it. I have struggled for years to try to "tame" her somehow. I've read dozens of parenting books and even tried the "supernanny" methods, and NOTHING has worked on my child. Timeouts, losing priveleges, even taking everything out of her room, yelling, spanking, you name it we've tried it, nothing has had any effect on her behavior at all. I am so relieved to finally find a parenting book that explains why none of those methods, and why punishment in general do not work to change behavior (except temporarily). This book explains what does work, and he lays it all out in excruciating detail so you basically can't go wrong. When I got this book in the mail, I sat down and read it in one evening - it is a very easy read and has lots of good example stories. I had to go back to some sections when I actually began to implement the method to look up certain details, but the book is very well organized so it was easy to find what I was looking for. The main thing about his method is positive reinforcement - yes everybody knows that - but this book explains how to do positive reinforcement correctly so that it actually works! I wish I had read this book years ago because it has made me and my family so much happier. I highly, highly recommend this book.

A Revolutionary book for me

This book has changed the lives of me and my children permanently. I only wish Alan Kazdin hadn't taken so long to write it! He was very busy doing good work, though, and obviously taking good notes so that he could pass it on to all of us. We have been using Kazdin's Method for 2 weeks now and I am amazed by the results. Our morning routine of getting ready for school and out the door needed a serious overhaul. We hit rockbottom one morning that ended in a lot of yelling and I knew I needed to do something drastically different. My 2 boys(6 and 9) are now out of bed right when their alarm goes off at 6:30 am, dressed and downstairs for breakfast even before I can get it ready. They then get up promptly from the table, brush teeth and hair and have their backpacks ready to go for the carpool a full 15 mins. before they need to be. My 6-yr. old came down one morning and said, "You know Mommy, now we have so much extra time that I think we should make our beds before we go too." I was nearly too stunned to talk! They do all of this so that they can get points and bonus points to go to the library, stay up an extra 15 mins., get a small gift certificate ($5) for a store, etc. Kazdin makes sure you get the all important details right, however, before you implement such a program. You have to get it all right or it won't work! But it isn't hard and I really enjoy using the program and helping the kids cash in their rewards. This book can help with some serious defiance/behavior issues, but I wish that it was aimed more at just general parenting too. I think all parents can use ideas when the going gets tough. I know that's when I'm at my worst. Now I feel prepared. It is important to note that Kazdin mentions what to do in situations where the behavior is severe but doesn't happen very often (low-rate behavior). I have tried his method for that also with absolute success. I'm so impressed and wish that he could find a way to implement this in a school setting for "problem kids" with behaviors that need to change. I can't say enough good things about this book and Alan Kazdin. He will change the way children are raised and disciplined and all with very positive results.