My biggest issue is that I don’t have the time to provide family therapy, but I also don’t have anyone to refer these desperate families too. Do you have a referral list?

Many parents have found success with the Collaborative Problem Solving Model (CPS) on their own by mere virtue of the training materials we have developed. Those training materials are easy for parents to access on the Parents section (What Next? page) of this website at very low cost. If they are finding that they still need help, we can provide referrals to clinicians in their area.

How does this model differ from approaches like 1-2-3 Magic?

In many ways! The two approaches have completely different explanations for why children are challenging in the first place and, as a result, completely different strategies for intervening. The CPS approach postulates that challenging behavior is the result of lagging cognitive skills - so the goal for parents is to teach their children the skills they lack rather than give them the incentive to comply with adult demands.

Is this an evidence-based treatment model?

Over the past few decades, there has been no paucity of research documenting the presence of cognitive deficits in children with behavioral difficulties. A wealth of research has demonstrated that executive function skills, language processing skills, emotion regulation skills, cognitive flexibility skills and social skills are implicated in children’s social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. In terms of efficacy and effectiveness research pertaining to the model, the first randomized, controlled clinical trial comparing CPS to the standard of care (emphasizing rewards and punishments) in an outpatient setting for children with multiple psychiatric disorders demonstrated CPS to be in all cases equivalent and in many superior. Follow-up data showed treatment gains were maintained in the CPS condition (this was not true for the standard of care). The CPS model is currently being studied in numerous independent settings as well.

CPS has also been shown to dramatically reduce or completely eliminate mechanical, physical and chemical restraints and locked-door seclusion in inpatient psychiatry units throughout North America. This research is summarized in the following publications:

• Greene, R.W., Biederman, J., Zerwas, S., Monuteaux, M., Goring, J., Faraone, S.V. (2002). Psychiatric comorbidity, family dysfunction, and social impairment in referred youth with oppositional defiant disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 1214-1224.
• Greene, R.W., Ablon, J.S., Monuteaux, M., Goring, J., Henin, A., Raezer, L., Edwards, G., & Markey, J., & Rabbitt, S. (2004). Effectiveness of Collaborative Problem Solving in affectively dysregulated youth with oppositional defiant disorder: Initial findings. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 1157-1164.
• Greene, RW, Ablon JS, & Martin, A. Use of Collaborative Problem Solving to reduce seclusion and restraint in child and adolescent inpatient units. Psychiatric Services, 2006, 57(5): 610-612.