Coaching practices for How to Understand Problem Behaviors

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For How to Understand Problem Behaviors, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • In my head it goes straight from something setting me off to me doing the thing, like one instant jump with nothing in between
  • I keep doing this thing I hate myself for afterward, and it makes no sense until I admit it does give me something in the moment
  • The same misbehavior keeps coming back no matter what I do about it, and I’m starting to suspect I’m only swatting at the surface
  • I keep hitting obstacles I didn’t see coming and each one feels like proof I’m failing, when really I just don’t fully understand how this is supposed to work yet
  • Every conversation with my kid about their behavior turns into me laying down the law and them digging in, and I want a way to actually talk it through together

Practices that may help

  1. Behavioral Chain Analysis: The DBT Method for Understanding Problem Behaviors
    Behavioral chain analysis (BCA), a core DBT skill developed by Marsha Linehan, maps every link in the chain of events — from the original vulnerability through the triggering event, thoughts, feelings, and actions — that led to a problem behavior. By making the chain visible, BCA reveals multiple points where the sequence could have been broken, turning a post-hoc autopsy into a concrete prevention plan.
  2. Map every link in the chain — thoughts, feelings, urges, actions
    Walk from the prompting event to the problem behavior one step at a time, naming each link explicitly.
    Behavioral Chain Analysis: The DBT Method for Understanding Problem Behaviors
  3. Map the short-term and long-term consequences of the behavior
    List what the behavior actually produced — good and bad, immediate and delayed.
    Behavioral Chain Analysis: The DBT Method for Understanding Problem Behaviors
  4. Identify the mistaken goal behind the misbehavior
    Dreikurs argued that misbehavior is always purposeful — the child is pursuing belonging or significance through a mistaken strategy.
    Natural and Logical Consequences (Rudolf Dreikurs)
  5. Build psychological capability through knowledge and practice
    Acquire the understanding and self-regulatory skill the behavior demands before expecting consistent performance.
    The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel
  6. Use Plan B: the three-step collaborative conversation
    Empathize with the child’s concern, share yours, and invite them to solve it together.
    Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
  7. Identify the lagging skill behind the behavior
    Name the cognitive skill the child is missing, not the behavior you want to stop.
    Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
  8. Recognize what is not happening with proactive recognition
    Catch the child not misbehaving and name the success explicitly.
    The Nurtured Heart Approach (Howard Glasser)
  9. Hold Plan B conversations proactively, not reactively
    Solve the problem before the next explosion, when everyone is calm.
    Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene)
  10. Generate a solution analysis for the most accessible intervention point
    For your chosen intervention point, brainstorm and commit to one specific alternative.
    Behavioral Chain Analysis: The DBT Method for Understanding Problem Behaviors

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