Standing in a recently cleaned and dusted living room (probably cleaned in anticipation of my visit)

As I tuck my pen into the place between the top two buttons on my shirt, I scratch my chin and the back of my head although neither itches.

Lemon Diet

I walk behind the counter and wait to get eye contact with a mother and father who are engaged in a serious battle with their 9 year old. Tempers exploded, the child is yelling and crying, the father is noticeably angry, but also noticeably holding back because I am there. The mother is more exposed. She begins to cry when her daughter says, “I HATE YOU!” and looks over at me as if to say, “THIS is what I am talking about.” It is at this moment I give them the universal symbol for “let her go,” or maybe it is “let IT go.” The daughter runs upstairs, the dad goes to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water, and the mother tries to regain her composure. They wait on my response.

Lemon Juice Diet

“That was pretty bad, huh?” I say as I enter into what is sure to be an uncomfortable conversation about what just went down.

Lemon Detox Diet

My job as a Behavior Analyst puts me in the position of helping parents and teachers better manage the behavior of the children in their lives. Rather than sitting in a leather chair talking with someone reclined on a matching leather couch, I sit in the back of the classroom. I walk around your house during afternoon chore and homework time. I am where behavior occurs. Essentially, I am in the most delicate, private spaces of a parent’s world.

I often have to tell parents what they have been doing is not working, and then tell them I want to change the way they interact with their children. I have to tell a teacher of 30 years experience that “her way” is not working, that she needs to do things differently. They don’t automatically trust me because I have letters behind my name or even if they are personally paying me. It can be a tough audience.