Taming inner infernos

CHILDREN are like bushfires, and some locals find their children as hard to control as a raging inferno, according to a University of Wollongong Psychologist.

Mark Donovan is the Supervising Clinical Psychologist at the university's Northfields Clinic, which treats and diagnoses children and teenagers with mental difficulties.

The clinic is currently running a program called "?Confident Carers-Cooperative Kids', aimed at helping parents with a troublesome child or children.

One of the ideas behind the 10 week workshops is that all children are potential bushfires.

Mr Donovan said a bush fire needs fuel, heat and oxygen to burn and likened a child's temperament to a kind of fuel.

According to the psychologist, some children have a short fuse and more fuel, their behaviour emulating an out of control blaze.

Their "?fuel' is ignited by friction or heat caused by family conflict.

The third element needed for a bush-fire is oxygen. Oxygen, in Mr Donovan's analogy, is the attention given to children by their parents, which is often a good thing but can make a blaze worse if poured onto open flame - or in other words - if lots of attention is given only to bad behaviour.

Mr Donovan said that by managing these three elements parents can keep their children in check.

"Even though their child may still be more combustible, they are responding in the best ways that they can," he said.

"They're not putting more heat onto bush fires."

Families can self-refer to the Northfields program by contacting the clinic on 42213747,

The programs have been specifically designed to assist children who suffer from extreme behavioural problems.