Child hitting parents

You have a very difficult situation. You need to use some behavioral parenting skills here. Here are the skills to use: Stop-Redirect-Reinforce for behaviors that can not be tolerated (such as hitting parents, or hitting siblings with the intent to hurt). Planned or purposeful ignoring (called Pivot) for behaviors that are inappropriate, but not destructive of people or things. Positive Reinforcement of appropriate behavior - You need lots of this. Set Expectations - this is a tool where you communicate the expectations, in a positive way, and also the payoff (reward) for meeting the expectations. Stay calm and avoid coercion. This reduces conflict and promotes cooperation and good behavior. Use empathy. Essentially, respond to emotional statements kindly, calmly, and reflect back the emotion being stated. Such as, "I know you really want stay up late. But it is bedtime." "I see you are super upset. I'm sorry." Traditional discipline (punishment) is not the way to go with a difficult situation like this. The above skills are taught to Florida Foster Parents in a course called "Parenting Tools for Positive Behavior Change". You may also try finding a Behavior Analyst. This is the science of behavior. It will be FAR MORE EFFECTIVE in this case than will a therapist. There is hope. Good luck. Tom Dozier, behaviorist