Lecturer Mert AKYOL defined behavioral problems as the situation where children and adolescents do not comply with rules and social values and behave in a way that violates the rights of others. AKYOL stated that if such behaviors continue in adolescence, the clinical prognostic will worsen. Therefore it is important to make sense of and transform these actions in childhood.
AKYOL stated that behavioral problems, especially in boys, may include verbal or physical aggressive behaviors, bullying or stealing, running away from home, getting involved in crime, and facing legal sanctions. But it is not always a pathology. Then he added that instead of looking at these behaviors as disorders, we should consider them as symptoms and that it is important to understand the mental dynamics behind them.
AKYOL said, "Behavioral approaches, mostly by ignoring the psychological dynamics that constitute the infrastructure of behavioral problems, which are claimed to be caused by a biologically programmed impulsivity or a hypothetical gene that has not yet been discovered. And the reward, punishment or difference methods created to eliminate these symptoms reveal the underlying problematic.’’ He continued by saying, “Although it seems to have eliminated these problems for a short time, other symptoms will appear or return to the old situation in the same way.” However, he stated that the clinical progrostic in child psychopathology cannot be understood without considering the environment in which it is expressed. Also he stated that issues such as the environment in which the behaviors are expressed, the meaning of the things that are tried to be expressed, and the effect of environmental factors should be considered.
AKYOL said that ‘’Behavioral disorder is not a structured disease. When the child is faced with mental tension, it is a way of releasing this mental tension by reacting with action because his ability to calm himself with a spiritual work is troubled,". He adding that the mental income or anxiety behind these behaviors is important because we all face tension or conflict, but stated that if we do not have the capacity to deal with it, we will put it into action. AKYOL, also said who stated that everyone may have difficulties in processing existing aggression and aggression spiritually, stated that the capacity to symbolize can be developed as a solution to this. He stated that when the mother cannot make sense of the child's emotions, a full connection cannot be established between the emotions, and in this case, the child who cannot ascribe meaning to his internal emotions cannot express it in a symbolic way. As a solution to this, there could be solutions such as perpetrating violence in fairy tales, allowing him to fight in games, and allowing him to express himself with pictures and words.
Finally, AKYOL stated that of course there should be a limit for children, otherwise, if this limit does not exist, the child will look for a limit in other systems. AKYOL, who completed his speech by emphasizing that methods such as clinical interviews, psychotherapy with the family, analysis of family dynamics and understanding and supporting environmental factors such as the social environment should be carried out in the intervention phase of the child's behavior, answered the questions from the participants. The event ended with the contributions of Sinan TEK.
