Customer Reviews

Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ever since my child was about 4 I have been wondering what he "had"....what his behavioral issues were all about. Three therapists later, psychological testing, and countless offerings of advice from friends, parents and teachers I have finally found an explanation that rings true and speaks to my husband and me. My son is now 14. How I wish I had known about this "CPS approach" years ago. The approach is not "Magic 123" (and therefore simplistic) but if it's followed, it works. I first read Dr. Greene's other book aimed at parents called "The Explosive Child" which is also wonderful. "Treating Explosive Kids" is directed at therapists and is therefore more dense and a little more difficult to understand for the lay person but the book is filled with dialogue between professionals, parents, and kids which brilliantly and realistically illustrates how to treat a child who is inflexible, explosive, and therefore incredibly frustrating. Guess what: these kids are not simply being manipulative or looking for attention.

This is by far the best approach I have ever encountered for children who are easily frustrated, chronically inflexible, and explosive (as well as those who "shut down" rather than explode). As a clinical and school psychologist who has worked with such children and families for over 15 years, this approach is the one that works when so many others have failed.

The book, which is for school personnel as well as clinicians, helps people who are just starting to use the model as well as those who have been using it for a while and would like additional information, ideas, etc. It is written in clear, easy to understand language, and the stories, vignettes, and dialogs are especially helpful in illustrating how to use the approach and clarifying some of the aspects of the model. I refer back to it often as I prepare for school staffings, parent meetings, client sessions, etc.

If you are a clinician who works with children in any setting, or anyone (teacher, administrator, counselor, dean, etc.) who works with these students in a school setting, this book is an absolute necessity. It is especially important for school personnel, because the core of this model involves teaching skills in the settings in which the problem behaviors occur and teachers are experts at teaching skills. If we can intervene with these students early, in the general education setting, I firmly believe we can prevent more serious difficulties with these students later on. Schools continually struggle with these types of behaviors and need effective models such as this.

If you are a parent of an explosive child, I highly recommend the companion parent book, The Explosive Child by Dr. Ross Greene.

I purchased 'Treating Explosive Kids' out of frustration of trying to figure out how to work with one of our grandchildren (age 7) who seems unable to control his temper and outbursts. While other family members said it was just 'bad behavior' I felt there was something much deeper to this behavior. I think Dr. Greene has finally provided not only an answer, but some very do-able solutions. I realize this particular book was probably aimed more at professionals, I found it exceptionally helpful. The sample dialogs between doctor and parents, doctor and children provided real-life scenarios that could be used as examples in using the Collaborative Problem Solving Approach. This book, as well as well as the corresponding video I purchased, have finally given hope that explosive children can be helped as long as the adults/caregivers are willing to work at it.

Very helpful for therapists and parents who want to use the Collaborative Problem Approach with explosive kids. Using plenty of examples and scripts, Drs. Green and Ablon help to walk people through the approach, through common pitfalls, and provide guidance and support for therapists working with families. A must-read for every family therapist and teacher who has ever worked with an explosive child.

I am reading "Treating the Explosive Child" and simply cannot put this book down - if everyone incorporated this approach into everyday life, what a humane world it could be. Thank you, Dr Ablon and Green for the expertise you are sharing and disseminating to the world - in my eyes, you are true heroes.

Deftly co-authored by Ross W. Greene (Director of the Collaborative Problem Solving Institute in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School) and J. Stuart Ablon Associate Director of the Collaborative Problem Solving Institute and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard medical School), Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach is an invaluable reference to all parents, and is highly recommended reading regarding children who are struggling to find a comfortable level of self, and who may express themselves through aggressive, defiant, or erratic physical or verbal display. Treating Explosive Kids is painstakingly researched and offers an indispensable guide to taking proper care of an uncooperative or argumentative child, and takes a very deep exploration into the reasoning and psychological aide which one might take as probable course for action. A work of seminal scholarship, Treating Explosive Kids is an excellent addition to the library reference collection of any teacher, parent, or child psychotherapist.

I've read "The Explosive Child" for parents, providers, etc. I enjoyed it; however, this book provided the perspective of a provider in such a concise way that I was able to immediately begin applying it as I read. It is a great way to reaffirm the professional's role.

I'm a clinical therapist with 18 years' experience. Several years ago I attended Dr. Green's training and was very impressed. So much in the mental health field, for working w/ behaviorally challenging kids and parents, focuses on rewards and consequences - basic behavioralism - which only works part of the time for part of the population. This is a wise and effective alternative, and one in consonance with what we're learning about why explosive kids are that way. My specialty areas are complex trauma and attachment disorders, which aren't mentioned as root causes for the difficulties in self-regulation skills for (I believe) a majority of explosive kids, which I think is an oversight. However, Dr. Green's creation of interventions which address the effects of these skill deficits remains an outstanding acheivement. His "Plan A, Plan B, Plan C" model is easily explained by clinicians and understood by parents. His model keeps parents empowered, gives them reasonable guidelines for which plan to use when, strengthens both kids' and parents' abilities to problem-solve in a connective, caring way, and gives kids hope for their own growth and change.

I purchased this book to assist with my daughter. I gave this book a 3 star rating because I feel the book has a lot to offer children of a certain criteria. Unfortunately, it didn't meet our needs. If you are dealing with a child who is on the autism spectrum or is of limited intellectual functioning, you may not find this book helpful. I also found the dialogue between the therapist and parent quite condescending. It is as if the author chose to only represent the parents who appear to clearly have deficits in their own areas, but maybe that was the point. The book addresses many cognitive deficits, but I feel it is misleading to a certain extent. I think the author is merely addressing children who fall into the learning disabled category as is reinforced by stating the treatment model "requires participants to have the capacity to identify and articulate their concerns...." This critical piece of information isn't disclosed until we dive in and get into chapter 6 of the book. It would be helpful if the author would point out what degree of cognitive impairment would not benefit from this treatment plan earlier on in the book. Alas, it is a textbook and not a self-help guide.

In this book I finally found an explanation for the frustrating behaviors of my child. Reading it changed the dynamics of our family and greatly improved our functioning. Many of the books on these children, including Dr. Greene's Explosive Child, provide descriptions of difficult behaviors and suggestions as to how to address these behaviors, but none provided a detailed explanation of what is happening for the child and how that creates these behaviors. This book is a must read for all parents, teachers, and providers who work with difficult children whose behaviors seem to defy the traditional explanations.