Treating Explosive Kids The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach

The first comprehensive presentation for clinicians of the groundbreaking approach popularized in Ross Greene's acclaimed parenting guide, The Explosive Child, this book provides a detailed framework for effective, individualized intervention with highly oppositional children and their families. Many vivid examples and Q&A sections show how to identify the specific cognitive factors that contribute to explosive and noncompliant behavior, remediate these factors, and teach children and their adult caregivers how to solve problems collaboratively. The book also describes challenges that may arise in implementing the model and provides clear and practical solutions. Two special chapters focus on intervention in schools and in therapeutic/restrictive facilities.

Ross W. Greene, PhD, is Director of the Collaborative Problem Solving Institute in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, Codirector of the Center for Collaborative Problem Solving, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In addition to providing outpatient care, he consults to schools, inpatient units, and residential and juvenile detention facilities. Dr. Greene's research focuses on the classification and treatment of explosive children, long-term outcomes in socially impaired children with ADHD, and the impact of teacher characteristics on school outcome for elementary school students with ADHD. He has written extensively on behavioral assessment and social functioning, school- and home-based interventions for children with disruptive behavior disorders, and student/n-/teacher compatibility. Previously, Dr. Greene served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at Virginia Tech and as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

J. Stuart Ablon, PhD, is Associate Director of the Collaborative Problem Solving Institute, Codirector of the Center for Collaborative Problem Solving, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He specializes in the treatment of explosive, inflexible, easily frustrated children and adolescents and their families. Like Dr. Greene, Dr. Ablon consults extensively to schools, inpatient units, and residential and juvenile detention facilities. He has authored numerous articles, chapters, and scientific papers on behavioral assessment and psychosocial interventions for children with disruptive behavior disorders. Dr. Ablon's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Psychological Association, the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Institute, and the Endowment for the Advancement of Psychotherapy.