The optimal way to help a troubled child is to first understand what the child is thinking and feeling, you know all you want to know about how they are acting. But how is an adult, who is familiar with common sense and logical thinking, supposed to understand the chaotic world of a challenging child? This brief article takes a number of ‘crazy making’ themes and makes them a bit less crazy. Each theme presents the young person doing the opposite of what you would expect, and then explains why they think and act the way they do. (4 pages)