Your Support In Action - Oscar and Jessica

Meet Oscar and Jessica

Oscar*, a kindergartener, tried to get his mother’s attention by pretending to cut her throat with a toy knife. He didn’t follow the rules and ignored his teacher’s instructions at school. Oscar frequently hit his siblings and classmates in kindergarten, the latter resulting in a suspension.

Oscar had always been restless, but he had recently been diagnosed with ADHD. Little as he was, he was unable to swallow medication. Per Oscar’s doctor’s recommendation, Oscar’s mother, Jessica*, arranged for her young son to see a therapist at EFC.

In the EFC therapist’s early home visits, she witnessed Oscar’s troubling, aggressive behaviors. In Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), EFC’s therapist encouraged Jessica to give Oscar lots of highly positive attention for good behavior. The therapist suggested Jessica ignore minor misbehaviors, including her kindergartener’s less intense temper tantrums.

Jessica implemented PCIT’s timeout technique calmly and consistently, and said that Oscar quickly began to comply with her directions. She only had to send her son to timeout during two of their therapy sessions. Jessica found that ignoring her son’s temper tantrums was highly effective, and over the course of a few sessions Oscar virtually ceased throwing tantrums altogether.

Jessica learned therapeutic techniques to increase her son’s concentration and focus. Through dedicating just five minutes every day to playing with Oscar using the PCIT techniques, Jessica saw Oscar’s disposition transform. He became calm and playful, eager to please his mom and clearly enjoying their playtime together. Oscar was paying attention at school and he no longer hit his siblings.

Oscar’s behavior continued to change for the better. Jessica reported that he was getting along well with his sisters and behaving well in public. The kindergartener is now successful and happy in school, enjoying learning to read and write with no problems concentrating on the task at hand. He was doing so well, in fact, that Jessica no longer felt her son needed ADHD medication.

*Names have been changed to protect clients’ privacy.


Dear reader, we want to remind you that your support and engagement allow us to make children’s better by providing free education, counseling, and support to break dysfunctional patterns of generational abuse and neglect in adults and other children’s caregivers. You have the power to ensure Durham area children can access the support they need, no matter their family’s income.

Thank you for being a hero for children!