Children's Psychology : How to Deal With a Dead-Beat Dad

The best way to deal with a dead-beat dad is to be gentle but realistic with the children so they do not develop conflicting emotions towards each parent. Understand the complexities of dead-beat-dad issues with information from a licensed clinical psychologist in this free video on emotional and mental health.

Expert: Dr. Craig Childress
Bio: Dr. Craig Childress is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of ADHD and angry-oppositional relationship disorders of childhood.
Filmmaker: Max Cusimano

Series Description: A child's psychological health is crucial during his formative years. Understand how to handle a variety of children's emotional and mental needs with help from a clinical psychologist in this free video series.

[selnun]

Cut the father off love and raise the kids by yourself... be honest to the child stop lying to your kids. It is what it is... you are the only person who truly loves your child. The child could NEVER learn anything from a deadbeat but how to be one himself.

[pegsullivan]

Most are narcissists and it amazes me how they can sleep at night?? How do you not want to see your child?

[caramelangel]

My mother was always honest with me . My dad never gave a care in the world and barely paid child support. My family is technically broken but I have my own family within myself.

[aimsd]

Be successful and they’re gonna want to claim u lol. I live the same situation, I’m a college student but every time I think of my dad it motivates me to work even harder in school and become a successful entrepreneur. I pray to God and hope it will happen one day 🙏 😢

[Jazzybot]

I have not spoken to my deadbeat dad since 2001, I knew I would be better off living my life without him.

[downhomegirl]

My EX Narcissist always causes problems with my now grown kids & then he plays the victim, I've never kept them from him & always tried to shelter them from the abuse he would cause. It's exhausting. Narcissist are the worst, the damage they do to the whole Family unit all based on what's good for them is disturbing.

[anggievee]

Exactly how I feel. I feel my sons pain for wanting to know his father ! You feel helpless as a parent not being able to do anything 😳😒😢

[tanicadornelly]

i started telling my daughter the truth when he kept hurting her and breaking her heart year after year. It breaks my heart when she hurts for him. I fasted and prayed about this and God revealed to me that I should just give my daughter all the love in the world and he will do the rest. He will fill the void. He will heal her heart.
I cut him off completely when he only called her once or twice a year and promised to visit...got her hopes up and never showed up. Nothing is more painful than seeing her hurt for him. I am still going through the process of forgiving him. Its hard. But its necessary. This is the only way I can truly give my daughter a great life without bitterness and anger when she asks for him. Hes a narcissist...sees nothing wrong with his actions and blames our break up for his absence.
If I could go back in time...I would still have my daughter..but he would definitely not be a human being that she would have any type of relation too.
I will keep taking care of my princess and praying over her. She will be ok!

[tylermills]

As a dad I have made so many mistakes!I hated my father so much for the things he put me thru and I turned out just like him n that bothers me so much now

[scaredfolks]

I'm 30 years old and just facing the fact I can't help my dad. What a waste of the 20 years I've tried. He was around but always took advantage of the people around him. Now I have some major anger issues I'm trying to figure out.

[lilxbwnsuga]

thank you. i love my kids to death, but their dad sees them as objects. not real life living human beings that need nurture, guidance, and connection with him. he is absolutely textbook to me, but he has a choice to give his children a dad which he never had. i dont get it.

[latishiabedwards]

I'm a single mother and was told since I was 20 that I should've kept my legs close. I was basically villianized, fast forward 13 years later and almost every black women is a single mom. Regardless if she's ugly, cute, tall, short, bad attitude or nice she's most likely a single mom and the father refused in most cases to marry the women and pays almost nothing for child support. I use to feel somehow nasty or unworthy. Now at 34 I realized much of what's going on was presented in the bible that (black) fathers will be absent for a host of crazy reasons and women will have to basically hold it down to the best of their ability. Even if you are a mature church going women who kept her legs close until married and did her homework on her man she would eventually in most cases be single or the breadwinner it's biblical.

[julianblack]

Don't have babies by deadbeat men. He was a deadbeat before the baby .

[djqt]

Currently going through this. My kids dad has abandoned them and hasn’t given me any money for them and actually stole money from me that was given to me by the government to help take care of them.. Words cannot describe how pathetic and selfish that is. ✌️🇨🇦

[mikee]

To be honest. I don't feel sorry for deadbeat fathers. My father is a deadbeat. My father is a alcoholic and degenerate gambler. Some times my father paid chid support. I was only worth 73 dollars in child support. At first it was 25 dollars in child support. My father took care of other people's children, however, can't take care of his own. When my mother and I used to ask my father for help. My father used to get angry at us. Although. When other people ask him for help. He's happy to help them. My father step-children and their mother used to make fun of my mother and I because my father liked them more than my mother and I. Now. My father hated me because I reminded him of my mother. My father used to make fun of my mother and I. My father lost every. My father lost his house and job. The people my father once helped. They all abandoned him. The children he raised. They all left him because the money dried up. Now. My father is still a drunk and he literally lost his mind. He's on mental illness medicine. I don't feel sorry for him. God. Took everything away from him, including his mind. He's just a mentally ill alcoholic now. Leaving in a very small apartment, working at a low paying job. Karma is a b1tch and she bite back hard. 💯✨️.

[rayjones]

Hell i just waited until i figured out my dad had cancer, than abandoned him and my little sister and still sleep good at night.

[soaring-comet]

my mother tried her best to still tell us good things about my dad, even though he cheated on her with two different people and is now married to the second one
it’s not her fault we hate him now
it’s his fault
before my brother graduated two years ago, it had been over seven fucking years since i had seen my dad
i’m sixteen now, and i’m done with him
if he wants to see us, he can visit us himself
except he hasn’t done that since graduation, and before that, he stopped when i was like a baby
the other times i saw him was when my mother brought us over to see him
technically they have shared custody
not like my father does anything with that anyway
he texted my brother and i today saying stuff like “happy thanksgiving” and “i miss you” and “i love you”
if you did miss and love us, you’d visit us once in a while
i’ve had so many performances and so many first times for everything that you’ve missed
i’ve learned to do so many things from my mother, and she’s all i need
i don’t need you
i don’t love you
i care about you as much i as i care about a distant relative i don’t see basically ever
you’re not my dad
my mother was both roles
fuck you dad

[SQUELCH-zjil]

My dad lives 2 minutes away and i still haven't spoken to him in years or heard from him.It sounds so weird saying it out loud but the system sucks here in Ireland

[nobullshiit]

This the most backward shit i have ever heard about not alienated the child from a deadbeat who will emotionally abused their kids by not being consistent with visitation and spending time with the kids. I'd rather not see my child get emotionally abused. And why not bad mouth a deadbeat? You're a male thats why you're telling people not to bad mouth deadbeats. Bad mouth them is the best revenge so the child will know what type of piece of shit the deadbeat is and to stay away and completely erase the deadbeat out of their thoughts and life. I'd make my kids hate their deadbeat every chance I get. And to keep reminding them never to love whoever abandoned them and they have every right to hate the deadbeat!

[chibichichi]

I've been wondering how I can explain to my son when older. I predicted his father being a poor parent a bit before birth and was proven right. And I know the novelty of a new child is wearing off. It's good to be prepared so thanks you for posting. If there's a vid about dealing with fathers trying to get at you through your child please let me know