One Thing Every Parent Must Understand About Their Child

“I think there are some fundamental rules that, in life, we just need to embrace. And one of those is you just simply don’t reward bad behavior,” Dr. Phil tells his guest Linda. “When you reward behavior, it’s likely to repeat; when you don’t reward behavior, it’s likely to not repeat because people do what brings rewards.”

Linda, who is currently supporting her 20-year-old daughter, Courtney, and allowing her to live in her house with her two children and boyfriend rent-free, says she doesn’t know how to help her daughter, who concealed both pregnancies, among other things, and “does what she wants to do.”

“If she lies, and you reward that behavior, by letting her get away with it, giving her what she wants anyway, then that’s likely to repeat,” Dr. Phil continues. “Necessity is the mother of invention. When things stop working, people come up with new ways to behave.”

“She’s a very difficult child. I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything,” Linda says.

“Everybody has a currency. You just have to find what that currency is,” Dr. Phil tells her.