Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach

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 got this book as a suggestion companion to training for a new job, and it really challenged me both as a clinician as well as a parent. I'm in the midst of trying to implement CPS into my daily routine, and as a direct service provider I'd rather there was more than one chapter discussing residential psychiatric facilities. That said, everything is well written and explained, and the book really pushes you to reexamine your ideas about why children and teenagers with emotional/behavioral problems are so difficult to understand or treat.

While the title of this book is "Treating Explosive Kids" I have found success in discussing with anyone about the possibility of "lagging or lacking" skills in an area in of challenging behaviors. I work in community mental health and have had a chance to go through a Tier 1 training that has a large amount of this information included in the training. It is a strengths based perspective encouraging ALL participants involved in the problem solving process. Great resource to have at work, school(s) and home.

I am a practicing clinical and school psychologist. Over the past decade there have been few books that have significantly altered the way that I work. This is one of them. The companion book - The Explosive Child - is excellent for parents who may be less initiated in psychological terminology. This book is intended for clinicians. It does an excellent job of presenting the ideas in a clear fashion. It is also quite clear that the writers are clinicians themselves who have worked with real clients. They give excellent guidance to professionals who are interested in trying to work with this method.

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.

Book arrived on time and in stated condition. I am a therapist working with pre-teens and their families. This book was so helpful! I had read Greene's "Explosive Child" and use it with parents all of the time. "Treating Explosive Kids" compliments the other book well and gives simple and helpful tips for implementing Collaborative Problem Solving with families and in schools. Good for a book club read as well.

This is must have reading for any elementary or middle school teacher. Is also important for ALL school counselors even up to high schools. Also important for parents of children with mood disorders, ADHD, Autism spectrum or other undiagnosed behavioral issues.

Well researched book with clear explanations of the ideas and concepts. An interesting approach to understanding explosive behavior in child clients, looking at their cognitive and behavioral deficits as an important factor prompting explosive episodes.

I highly recommend this book to clinicians and teachers who have explosive kids in their practice and classrooms. This approach enables all parties, including parents and children, to work together and engage the child in a) picking up any missed skills (e.g., cognitive, social, etc.), and b) utilizing them in problem-solving rather than exploding. Very readable and implementable.

Ross Green is the only person to consult when you have an explosive child.

A great read to help develop a different perspective on some of the children who need our help the most. It presents a nice shift in thinking from more traditional beliefs about why some children struggle to meet adult expectations, and better ways to help them.