More Thoughts on Why Learning Physical Techniques Works

I posted earlier on the debate for teaching parents physical techniques for dealing with their child's tantrums.  This weekend, I helped at a workshop and I realized I missed the most critical point of all.

Fear.

When a child reaches the point of physical meltdown and begins to tantrum or attack, parents are left pretty much helpless.  The child continues to use physical attacks because they work.  The family gets held hostage by the threat of violence.  It's hard to follow through on a demand when you know there's a chance it could erupt in punches and kicks.

If the parents know how to avoid getting injured and how to deal with the attacks, then that fear goes away.  Even if the techniques aren't 100% effective (no technique will work in all situations), the dynamic changes.  No longer is this a no-way-out situation. 

Now there's confidence and tools to handle the situation.

So I'm glad we made it work and I'm hoping we can host more workshops in the future.