Clinicians often have difficulty helping the parents of youth with emotional and behavioral difficulties and fail to recognize that often it is the youth s cognitive and learning weaknesses that drive their maladaptive behaviors. This book aims to help clinicians further understand the roots of youth s maladaptive behaviors. It also addresses the impact of youth s varied cognitive abilities on their behaviors and problems with self-esteem, particularly in youth that do not meet the diagnostic criteria for a formal learning disability. While many clinicians view learning deficits as impairments in specific academic skills, these deficits go beyond varied learning abilities and often experience difficulties in emotional, social, and behavioral functioning. These impairments vary from child to child and it is crucial to develop practical interventions for improved self-esteem and emotional success.