Module 5: Planned Ignoring and Relaxation Skills

During Module 5, parents learn differential attention skills for handling minor misbehaviors. They learn the benefits of active ignoring to reduce negative attention and to improve interactions with their child by focusing attention relatively more on positive versus negative child behavior. This will help parents to develop a proactive (rather than reactive) plan for those behaviors they will actively ignore and a clear understanding of why ignoring is the most effective strategy for those behaviors. However, some parents may be particularly reactive and have difficulty managing their own emotions when their child is behaving in a way the parent finds annoying or otherwise upsetting. Thus, in Module 5, parents also learn relaxation and mindfulness skills to help them be less reactive to child misbehavior and more successful with active ignoring.