There are several tips to treat a child with encopresis, or stool retention. The first thing we would like them to do is to visit their pediatrician or pediatric gastroenterologist, just to make sure that there are no blockages or anything that could be responsible for this child withholding. The next thing we want to do is get the child on some kind of regularly scheduled, so that they are going to the bathroom at regular times. Often times, that involves some mineral oil or some other type of medication to help the child go more regularly. We generally recommend against enemas unless it is recommended by the pediatrician because that can be relatively traumatic for the child. The last thing I want to say is that it's important that the parents do not express anger at the child for their going through this stool retention issue. It can be very upsetting for the parents, but the focus on it overly angry with the child doesn't help the child. In fact, it only makes things worse. It's important for the child accept responsibility for the stooling problem that they are having. For example, I will often ask the parents, what is it that they do and what do they expect the child to do when the child has soiled their pants. I try to place the responsibility for the changing, the cleanup, putting on the new clothes, that should be the responsibility of the child; as much as it can be done. We want to make sure there are no secondary reinforces. By that I mean, is the child getting any reinforcers out of this control and where ever possible, we want to eliminate those things.