Putting Blame on Others
“It wasn’t my fault”, “I wasn’t there” and “He made me do it” are common statements we hear from children. We know for a fact that no one likes to be at fault, blamed, or criticized or land up in trouble or experience any negative consequences. This goes for men, women, young and the old. Ultimately, kids do this as they do not want to be at the receiving end of scolding and want to avoid unpleasant family situations. In the long run, children must learn to take responsibility and accept their mistakes by improving their attitude and personality with the help of a counsellor or therapist.

Refusing to Follow Rules and Discipline
It is common to see a child refusing to eat, to go out, to study,to help in household chores and not listening to what elders say. In these situations, the parents or the other caregivers might lose their patience or temper. When scolded and blamed by their parents, the child may feel that- ‘he or she is a bad boy or a bad girl’ who can’t do anything properly. Hence, a counsellor will help the child into modification of their denial behaviour and at the same time explain parents the right way for handling such issues.

Shyness or Non-Participation
Shyness or non- participation is a common behaviour that most children experience at some point in their personality development. It is a serious concern if your child’s shyness is persistent and severe enough to interfere with daily happenings or social life. Then one must approach a counsellor or a therapist in order to fix this issue with right interventions and personality development.

Antisocial / Risky Behaviour
Children tend to imitate what they see on social media like lying, stealing, violence, spreading terror in others or destroying others property. Anti-social behaviour can also include behaviour like smoking, drinking and drug dealing. To avoid extreme cases of court or juvenile cases, one can seek guidance from an expert in these situations which shall help improve the child’s mental health and overcome such behaviour.

Love Affairs
Nowadays children are seen to be indulging in love affairs or relationships right from Grade 5 or 6. Few children get so involved and engrossed in this, that it impacts their academics, social and family relations. With proper advice, these children are taught age appropriate things according to their maturity level and are directed towards handling such relationships.

Sibling Rivalry
‘Siblings’ are said to be best friends; however, we notice extreme fights, competition, jealousy, adjustment issues amongst them. It can be frustrating and upsetting to experience both kids fighting with each other on trivial matters. With help of the counsellor or therapist, the kids are taught about the sharing-caring principles with right interventions.

Parental Discrimination
In many families we observe parental discrimination between the kids. Parents discriminate in mediums of born hierarchy, intellectual level, educational level, maturity level, physical beauty, career choices, responsibilities and many more. Excessive pressure about these expectations which can’t be fulfilled by kids and children, leads to anxiety, depression, stress, withdrawal, low self-esteem, social withdrawal and many more issues. To avoid these issues, the counsellor does parental counselling and suggests them better ways of parenting styles.

Peer Groups- Pressure and Influence
During teenage years, one can easily get influenced by his/her peers.This influence can be either positive or negative. A better peer group will influence the child in becoming more studious, activity oriented, having moral values and discipline, which will help in his/her development. However, few peer groups influence a child negatively due to peer conformity and peer pressure which leads to misleading behaviours such as smoking, drinking, bunking lectures, lying, etc. One must seek professional help to develop very good bonding between parents and children which can overcome negative peer pressure.

Social Withdrawal
Socially withdrawn children or teens may show signs of depression. While it is said to be normal for a child to begin to pull away from their parents or other caregivers and be with peers more as they reach the adolescence period; social withdrawal from friends or peers may be a sign of a more serious problem at this age. If your child is seen to socially withdraw, an effective treatment and therapy can help them maintain a good mental health and enjoy their childhood.