| Oppositional Defiance Disorder treatment generally | | | | symptoms associated with ODD has been |
| results in the combination of following treatment | | | | documented. Most physicians recommend the use of |
| methods: | | | | anti-psychotic drugs in extreme cases where behavior |
| - Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is defined as any | | | | modification and psychotherapy have failed |
| form of counseling involving a medical profession. This | | | | - Behavior Modification: Behavior Modification is a form |
| can range from individual to group or even family | | | | of psychotherapy in which the parent is taught |
| therapy. The goal of psychotherapy is to help the child | | | | methods of controlling a child's behavior using positive |
| learn ways to express their feeling and manage their | | | | techniques. Using a series of rewards and |
| anger. The child learns what triggers their defiant | | | | punishments, the parent begins to teach their defiant |
| behavior and ways to channel that energy in a more | | | | child what behaviors are acceptable. By encouraging |
| productive manner. Family therapy is aimed at helping | | | | acceptable behaviors, the parent is able to reduce the |
| the entire family understand and cope with the child's | | | | incidence of defiant behavior. These techniques can be |
| defiant behavior. By understanding the triggers that | | | | combined with individual psychotherapy to provide an |
| stimulate a child's defiant behavior the family learns | | | | even stronger reinforcement for good behavior while |
| how to properly respond. | | | | providing anger management solutions. In a recent |
| - Medication: An increasingly common solution to | | | | study by the Journal of the American Academy of |
| managing ODD has been to use prescription | | | | Child and Adolescent Psychiatry showed that behavior |
| medication. Initially studied to treat chemical imbalances | | | | modification combined with psychotherapy is as |
| associated with schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease, | | | | effective as medication in coping with Oppositional |
| these anti-psychotic drugs have been shown to | | | | Defiance Disorder. |
| reduce a child's outburst and defiant behavior. | | | | While there is on cure for ODD, with proper education |
| However, the long-term effects of these drugs on | | | | and dedication, it is possible to control the symptoms. |
| children has not been studied. ODD is not caused by a | | | | Medication provides a viable solution to coping with the |
| chemical imbalance that can be corrected using | | | | symptoms however, should be considered only as an |
| medication. Scientist have not be able to identify the | | | | alternative to failed behavior modification. |
| cause of ODD however, their ability to reduce the | | | | |