Moving Beyond Meltdowns

Coming on June 3rd a 90-minute workshop on Managing the Cycle of Meltdowns with the Three Pillars Foundation - more info to follow soon!

Free Personal Stress Checklists

https://martin-sheehan.kit.com/507c9f8ee2

Leisure Works - Mini course A step-by-step guide to help individuals with developmental disabilities develop a personalized leisure -activities plan. This free mini-course contains two of the twelve lessons from the full program.

Disruptive Behaviors defined and Types of Disruptive Behaviors

Defined:
1. Disruptive behaviors are any behavior that significantly interrupts the routine of the acting individual or those in the immediate surroundings (e.g., physical aggression, off task behavior).
2. In disruptive behaviors the person’s distress is focused outward and directly affects other people.

Types:
1. Argumentative/defiant behavior; vindictiveness
2. Aggression towards others; destruction of property (deliberate fire setting, vandalization).
3. Deceitfulness or theft
4. Serious violation of the rules
5. Impulsive and anger based
6. Threatening
7. Characterized by repeated acts of aggression toward others and often accompanied by little or no regard for the effects of such behavior on others.
8. A pattern of unruly, defiant, or aggressive actions that significantly interfere with daily functioning and social interactions.
9. Pattern of uncooperative or defiant behavior

Defusing disruptive behaviors
1. Off -task behavior – cooperation and on-task behavior
2. Rule violation – regulations, routines, and expectations
3. Disrespectful behavior – respectful behaviors
4. Agitation (angry, upset, on edge frustrated, anxious)
5. Noncompliance and limit testing (refusal to cooperate)

DSM 5 – Disruptive Behavior Disorders
1. A group of disorders involving difficulties with self-control, impulses, and aggressive behaviors
2. Types
a. Oppositional defiant disorder
i. Angry, irritable mood
ii. Argumentative/defiant behavior
iii. Vindictiveness
b. Conduct disorder
i. Aggression to people and animals
ii. Destruction of property
iii. Deceitfulness or theft
iv. Serious violation of rules
c. Intermittent explosive disorder
i. Verbal aggression like temper tantrums, tirades, arguments, fights; or physical aggression toward people, animals, or property
d. Also
i. Pyromania
ii. Kleptomania
iii. Antisocial personality disorder

Questions? send me your thoughts by commenting.

What is ACT?

When I worked as a therapist at a local counseling center, I was using cognitive behavioral approaches for many of my more language capable clients. I started to have several people come in who disputing their thoughts did not seem to work – one was a woman with fibromyalgia, and another was someone who just had a horrible life – lots of things went wrong for him. I started to look for other approaches and discovered mindfulness – mainly the approach of Jon Kabit-Zinn – “Full Catastrophe Living.” From there it was just a short step to the approach I now use - it is called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT said as one word and not as the initials A-C-T) is a third wave behavioral therapy that emphasizes acceptance, mindfulness, and compassion coupled with traditional behavioral interventions. In addition to ACT some of the other third wave approaches include Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive therapy (MBCT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP).

Let’s now talk specifically about ACT. ACT doesn’t try to change either your thinking or your emotional experience. It instead promotes acceptance of what exists and making behavior changes based on what is meaningful to you living a rich life. The major barrier to a full life and one that people frequently struggle with is psychological inflexibility. We all struggle when we lose our flexibility in dealing with things. We may try to control our feelings and thoughts, or we relate to people or situations in a rigid manner.

What maintains our inflexibility? First of all, we get stuck in our thought as if they were real things. For example, the parent who yells at their child may think “I am a lousy parent” or “I am a terrible person.” We become fused with our thoughts. ACT teaches us to step back and recognize this is just a thought through a process known as defusion. It’s hard to be flexible when you are stuck in your thoughts.

Another way we become inflexible is by avoidance of the problem. Many people try hard to avoid situations, people, thoughts, or feelings that are painful or unpleasant. But it takes a lot of time and energy when we are in the avoidance mode of living. It also interferes with the ability to live a rich, healthy life. ACT teaches us to accept these challenges and still learn to live a valued life.

There are six core processes in ACT that are aimed at increasing psychological flexibility: acceptance, defusion, present moment awareness, self as context, values, and committed action.
• Acceptance (let it be) refers to the process of willingly experiencing thoughts, feelings, and sensation without attempting to control of modify them.
• Defusion (let it go) refers to the process of noticing thoughts and images and stepping back and watching our thinking instead of getting tangled up in them.
• Contact with the Present Moment (be here now) refers to the process of intentionally paying attention to our experiences in the moment.
• Self-as Context (notice yourself) refers to the process of experiencing yourself as an observer – the noticing self.
• Values (choose what matters) refers to connection with our freely chosen life directions,
• Committed Action (do what matters)refers to our willingness to take action in the service of living a life consistent with our personal values.

The goal of ACT is to use some or all these processes to produce greater psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility in a nutshell, is the ability to notice how you are feeling and what you are thinking and then being able to take action to do the things that matter to you. You then will have more energy to take steps toward the things that you value in life.

My “Moving Beyond Meltdowns” approach incorporates ACT, Positive Behavior Support (PBS), Floortime (DIR), and Direct Instruction (DI) approaches.

Coming up next- The Choice Point

King Tides Cape Perpetua. Dec16, 2024