Questions On Dr. Ross W. Greene’s Collaborative And Proactive Solutions Model
Those of you who have read my other articles know that I very much align with the viewpoints of Ross W. Greene, Ph.D when it it comes to behavioral reform in at-risk, explosive children. If you are new, and would like to catch up, please read this: https://medium.com/@caleberosswork/summary-review-of-the-explosive-child-by-ross-w-greene-ph-d-66e37c6a0b41,
this: https://medium.com/hope-and-strength/child-psychology-my-philosophy-646897463f4a,
Or visit the website of Dr. Greene’s Non-Profit organization called Lives In The Balance here: https://www.livesinthebalance.org/
In this article, I will answer 2 frequently asked questions regarding Dr. Greene’s methodologies.
Question 1: How Can I Make Time In My Daily Life To Work With My Child Who Is Behaviorally Challenged?
One of the biggest questions people ask is how they can implement the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model in their daily life with their behaviorally challenged children. Often times, what they lose track of, is just how much time it takes to deal with behavior, when the problems that are causing that behavior, are still unsolved. It’s unsolved problems that take all the time in the world to deal with. Solved problems don’t take that much time at all, specifically because they’re already solved. Now, you do need to put a little time in to solving an unsolved problem. When you work with kids who have had unsolved problems getting in their way for years (expectations they have had trouble meeting for a significant amount of time), that can take up a lot of time to solve. But it also takes a significant amount of time when a kid is reacting to that unsolved problem because we are spending a lot of time to try to calm this kid down. Not only that, but in a school setting, the teacher is typically sending the child to the office, taking a great deal of time away from the classroom setting full of other children whose learning is being disrupted, but also seeing things happen in their classroom that can be perceived as scary and make them feel uncomfortable. We need to find the time to help kids solve the problems that affect their lives. If that time isn’t built in to the school day (which a lot of times, it isn’t), then we must create that time. Generally speaking, if the school/facility/family tries hard enough to create time, they will realize that there are pockets of time that already exist where they can work on the implementation of the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions Model.
Question 2: How Does The Collaborative And Proactive Solutions Model Differ From The Standard Of Care?
People often want to know how Collaborative And Proactive Solutions differs from the standard of care and way things are usually done in regards to the treatment of at-risk youth. There is actually quite a few differences. First of all, in Dr. Greene’s model, unlike many models that are focused on a child’s behavior and trying to modify the behavior, you are instead focusing on solving the problems that are causing the child’s explosive behavior. This is a significantly different enterprise and it not only changes the stance we are taking with the kid, it also changes how we are going about assessing that kid. Another significant change that other models do not implement is solving problems with the child in a collaborative manner. Adults tend to tell the kid what the solution is and impose their will through unilateral means. That is not the case in Dr. Greene’s model. In this model it is assumed that a child needs a partner to solve his problems. Also, a lot of models deal with problems emergently and reactively. In Dr. Greene’s model, 99.9% of what you’re doing is planned, proactive problem solving. To sum things up: It’s problem solving, not behavior modification. It’s collaborative, not unilateral. It’s proactive, not reactive.
If you would like to watch some videos involving Dr. Ross W. Greene, I have compiled a YouTube playlist of videos he is in here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJPCpsGIDxqy4veq0nxau-z_vq3vROW-M
If you would like to read more about Dr. Greene, here is his author site: http://drrossgreene.com/
Here is is website for his non-profit organization called Lives In The Balance: https://www.livesinthebalance.org/
Here is his CPS Connection Website link: http://www.cpsconnection.com/dr-ross-greene
Last but not least, here is his Wikipedia Article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_W._Greene
