One of my favorite Facebook "goodies" are those videos of "guilty dogs" whose "fur parents" have caught them being naughty and whose antics to avoid taking responsibility are charming and delightful. Nobody, but nobody can do the "guilt dance" as well as a dog.
Humans need to follow their lead and learn how to be truly remorseful for intentional and unintentional mistakes of behavior.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry” said Annie for the 10th time today. She apologizes, but her heart isn’t in it and her behavior never changes. What’s going on? She isn’t learning from her mistakes so, she’s in damage control mode and working hard to avoid punishment.
You can change it. How? By spending time with her explaining what she has done and showing her what she can do the next time. Act it out if necessary.
Annie will make the same mistake again and when she does, ask her what she can do differently the next time. If she can’t answer, there’s more going on than just misbehavior.
Attentional or impulse control problems may make it difficult for her to do what she knows she should be doing.
Focus on one behavior at a time and review it frequently throughout the day. She might be the kind of kid who just needs a lot of practice before her behavior becomes automatic.
Developing healthy relationships depends on this early social training.
Claudia
Join me on Facebook at Dr. Claudia McCulloch
At drclaudia.net, click on the "Ask Me" button and send me a question.
Humans need to follow their lead and learn how to be truly remorseful for intentional and unintentional mistakes of behavior.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry” said Annie for the 10th time today. She apologizes, but her heart isn’t in it and her behavior never changes. What’s going on? She isn’t learning from her mistakes so, she’s in damage control mode and working hard to avoid punishment.
You can change it. How? By spending time with her explaining what she has done and showing her what she can do the next time. Act it out if necessary.
Annie will make the same mistake again and when she does, ask her what she can do differently the next time. If she can’t answer, there’s more going on than just misbehavior.
Attentional or impulse control problems may make it difficult for her to do what she knows she should be doing.
Focus on one behavior at a time and review it frequently throughout the day. She might be the kind of kid who just needs a lot of practice before her behavior becomes automatic.
Developing healthy relationships depends on this early social training.
Claudia
Join me on Facebook at Dr. Claudia McCulloch
At drclaudia.net, click on the "Ask Me" button and send me a question.
