Your child is NOT in control of their meltdowns
Welcome to part 3 of Chelsea’s story. If you want to catch up, click here to read part 2 and click here to read part 1.
By now, it's clear that Chelsea is a very insightful kid who feels conflicted by her desire to participate in some things and her anxiety over the dysregulating experience that might come with it. We know that anxiety plays a huge factor in her dysregulation and behaviors that were presenting at school and home, like her discomfort with participating in group discussions and decision-paralysis when it comes to highly stimulating environments.
One major area of need for support is Chelsea’s emotional dysregulation and frequent explosive meltdowns that involved screaming in people’s faces, crying, scratching herself and throwing objects. When asked about this, Chelsea is clearly remorseful after yelling at someone and even admits to feeling like she’s out of control of her emotions, and that she wants help with this.
When asked about why she scratches herself during her meltdowns, she says it’s because she doesn’t want to hurt other people so she hurts herself instead.
Even before consulting with me, her parents had done a wonderful job of educating her about different emotions, implementing yoga and breathwork into their daily life but still felt like they wanted more support for these extreme meltdowns.