Stimulus Control
Stimulus control involves identifying specific triggers which may cause negative and problematic behaviors in youth. After identification of these triggers, parents are guided to change these through anticipation and replacement.

What should my therapist be doing?

• Explaining the following terms: stimulus control, antecedent, behavior, consequence

• Explaining how these four terms relate to one another

• Collaborating with you to identify:

  • Situations/supports that make it more likely for your child to succeed

  • Situations/risk factors that make it more likely for your child to experience difficulties

•  Helping you immerse your child in support situations and avoid risk-factor situations

 What should I be doing?

• Openly collaborating with the therapist

• Remaining optimistic and remembering that this intervention by itself will not work to fix all problems. However, with patient application of this technique, in combination with others, it can make a big difference

• Practice, practice, practice

How will I know if it is working?

• You will notice a decrease in problematic behaviors

• The way that this technique works is by setting up the environment so that the problematic behavior does not occur. This differs from consequence-driven techniques that stress application of a consequence after something does occur.