amburrleigh
New Member
My 6 year old daughter has had defiance issues since the age of 3 (or at least that's when we first noticed that it wasn't just typical defiance). We sought counseling about a year ago and were told that ODD was a very likely diagnosis, but the counselor didn't have much experience with kids her age, so she referred us to a psychologist. We met with the psychologist once & in a period of 1 1/2 hours, she told me that she felt like my difficult child was likely ODD, ADHD & would be rx'd as bipolar by the time she hit her teens. While waiting for an appointment for an actual diagnostic evaluation with this psychologist, difficult child's behavior greatly improved for about 3 months, with her "fits" only occurring every week or two, instead of almost daily. I hadn't felt comfortable with the psychologist jumping to so many conclusions in such a short time (and in my opinion my daughter hasn't displayed any symptoms of ADHD), and we moved on to other help. We've recently been seeing a counselor through a local church. My daughter LOVES him, but because her symptoms are worst at home and rarely in public, I feel like he may think I'm exaggerating. She has had 5 "fits" in the last 3 days & I feel like I'm losing my mind. A typical fit for her involves lots of name-calling & "I hate you"s, as well as throwing anything within reach at me, hitting, kicking, biting, etc. If anyone else gets close during a fit, she won't hesitate to hit them, either. The most confusing thing is that she will seem to calm down when I ask her simple questions, and will remain calm-ish for several minutes, until I suggest that we go on to something else, then she'll say "NO! I want to fight you!" I'm in the process of searching for a pediatric psychiatrist in my area (DFW) and was also considering something like "Total Transformation" or the program that Anthony Kane offers. Has anyone tried any programs like this or have any advice for me????? Thanks so much.