In an era where parents, teachers, and other caregivers are bombarded by confusing and conflicting guidance on how to effectively discipline children... where the popular media exploits the struggles of difficult children and their families but provides little useful guidance... where parenting "gurus" extol the virtues of corporal punishment... where record numbers of preschool children are expelled from school... where high-stakes testing has forced adults to focus on teaching students to memorize facts rather than how to think critically, solve problems, and resolve conflict... where the emotional well-being of children is often an afterthought...

there is the CENTER FOR COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING^SM.

Under the direction of Drs. Ross Greene and Stuart Ablon, the Center provides clinical services, training, and consultation to assist education, mental health, and medical professionals and parents in understanding and implementing the Collaborative Problem Solving^SM (CPS) approach. The impetus for the CPS approach came from an awareness that children and adolescents with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges are frequently poorly understood; that standard approaches to treatment often do not satisfactorily address their needs (and can actually worsen their difficulties); and that, as a result, many such children have very adversarial interactions with parents, teachers, siblings, and peers and are at risk for poor long-term outcomes.

The CPS model -- which was first articulated in the book, The Explosive Child -- proposes that challenging behavior should be understood and handled in the same manner as other recognized learning disabilities. In other words, difficult children and adolescents lack important cognitive skills essential to handling frustration and mastering situations requiring flexibility and adaptability. The CPS model helps adults teach these skills and teaches caregivers and children to work toward mutually satisfactory solutions to the problems causing conflict. RESEARCH has shown that CPS is a highly effective model of outpatient care and can be an effective means of reducing restraint and locked-door seclusion and reducing staff and patient injuries in restrictive/therapeutic settings. The model is currently being implemented in juvenile detention settings as well.

There is a vital need for more humane treatment and enlightened understanding of children with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. If you would like to learn more about the CLINICAL, TRAINING, and CONSULTATION services provided at the Center for Collaborative Problem Solving^SM, click on the appropriate tab. You can receive continuous email updates of our projects, research, and services by receiving CPS Update (it's free). Just send us your name and email address by subscribing here. And if you'd like to learn more about the programs and initiatives of the non-profit Collaborative Problem Solving^SM Institute, based in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, click here.

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