Your child’s physician or psychiatrist will determine the specific treatment for your child be taking into account such things as:

• How bad the extent of the child’s symptoms are
• Your child’s age
• Your child’s general health and medical history
• How he/she thinks your child will tolerate specific treatments
• Your opinion or preference

The treatments available for ODD include:

• Psychotherapy for the child. This may include cognitive behavior therapy to help improve communication skills, anger management, problem solving and impulse control

• Family therapy may be needed to help make some general changes in the family system. This may include things such as family interactions and improving communication skills for all members of the family. It can be very stressful parenting a child with ODD and it is very easy to lose control, which ultimately does not help the child’s behavior. Parents therefore need some support and will also benefit from learning new effective parenting skills.

• Your child may benefit from peer group therapy to help develop their interpersonal and social skills.

• Medication although usually a last resort is sometimes offered particularly if there are other disorders present that may be responsive to medication. Usually medication is not that effective for ODD itself.

Natural treatments may also be an option as there may be an underlying cause to the child’s behavior such as a food intolerance or leaky gut syndrome. If any food sensitivities are found and eliminated from the child’s diet, often this can give some remarkable improvements in behavior.

What is ODD?
Symptoms of ODD