Understanding Troubled Children Through Insight and Compassion
What Do You Do With A Child Like This? offers an intimate and empathetic look inside the world of troubled children. This revised 2018 edition helps adults understand the emotional experiences behind challenging behaviors and respond with clarity and heart. The phrase troubled children is often used to describe young people who feel overwhelmed, misunderstood, or discouraged. This resource shows adults how to shift from frustration to understanding by viewing the child’s experience from the inside out.
Drawing from more than 30 years of working closely with vulnerable youth, Larry Tobin shares powerful stories, gentle insights, and practical guidance for parents, teachers, counselors, and behavior specialists. Instead of labeling or categorizing children, the book encourages adults to recognize their strengths, listen deeply, and help them build trust, confidence, and resilience.
Approaches and Strategies That Support Emotional Growth
This book demonstrates how “creative misbehavior” often reflects unmet needs, difficult emotions, or internal confusion. Through relatable examples and meaningful reflections, readers learn to:
• Understand the child’s perspective and why certain behaviors emerge
• Respond creatively to outbursts, withdrawal, or disruptive actions
• Replace punishment with empathy while still holding healthy boundaries
• Build stronger relationships rooted in trust, safety, and connection
• Inspire hope in children who have experienced discouragement or disappointment
These insights help adults walk alongside a struggling child with compassion and confidence, transforming daily challenges into opportunities for healing and growth.
Reviews and Professional Praise
Educators, psychologists, and behavior specialists consistently describe this book as insightful, accessible, and deeply moving. Their reflections highlight how the examples and techniques in this resource foster genuine understanding of children’s emotional worlds.
“Sensitive, easy to read and easy to understand. The examples touch a chord and treat children as people, not as inventory to be labeled. It offers refreshing insights into their thoughts and feelings.”
Herbert G. W. Bischoff, PhD
Former President, International School of Psychology Association
“This book will motivate, inspire, and inform.”
Bobby Brice, Behavior Consultant
“Exciting and sensitive. What insight Tobin has into the world of children.”
Carol Lane, Educational Resource Specialist
“A thoughtful and penetrating view of troubled children from the outside looking in and the inside looking out. It provides practical suggestions and inspirational messages to adults who work with troubled youth.”
Randy Sprick, PhD
Author of The Solution Book and Discipline in the Secondary Classroom
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