The Explosive Child [Sixth Edition]

The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene, PhD, now in its revised and updated sixth edition, delves deeply into a revolutionary, research-based approach to understanding and parenting children who frequently display severe fits of temper and other challenging behaviours. Penned by a distinguished clinician and pioneer in addressing the needs of children with social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties, this ground-breaking book offers invaluable insights and guidance for frustrated parents.

What characterises an explosive child? These are children who respond to routine problems with extreme frustration, displaying behaviours such as crying, screaming, swearing, kicking, hitting, biting, spitting, and even destroying property. Such frequent and severe outbursts often leave their parents feeling helpless, scared, and desperate for solutions. Experiences of these parents include trying a range of strategies—reasoning, explaining, punishing, sticker charts, therapy, medication—only to see no significant improvement. They are baffled as to why their child behaves in this manner and why conventional strategies fail while working for other children.

Dr. Ross Greene reassures these parents through his extensive work with thousands of explosive children. He assures them that their children are not attention-seeking, manipulative, or unmotivated. Nor are the parents failing by being passive or permissive. Instead, explosive children are typically lacking essential skills in flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem-solving. These deficits necessitate a unique and tailored approach to parenting.

In this compassionate, insightful, and practical book, Dr. Greene introduces a new conceptual framework grounded in neuroscientific research to understand these difficulties. He meticulously explains why traditional parenting and treatment methods often fall short for these children and outlines effective alternatives. Instead of relying on reward and punishment, Dr. Greene advocates for the Collaborative Problem Solving model. This approach encourages parents to work collaboratively with their explosive children to address the issues that trigger their explosive episodes and to teach them the necessary skills they lack.

Throughout The Explosive Child, readers will find detailed explanations, practical advice, and real-life examples to help them implement this innovative approach. The sixth edition incorporates the latest findings and offers new insights to equip parents better to handle these challenging situations. With compassion and expertise, Dr. Greene provides a lifeline for families struggling to manage and support their explosive children, ultimately fostering healthier and more harmonious relationships.