Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach (Home Study)
9 Credit Hours | $45.00 | Author: eLearning Essentials based on the book written by Ross W. Greene and J. Stuart Ablon
Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced

This course is based on the new must-read book entitled "Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach" by Ross W. Greene and J. Stuart Ablon. The course focuses on identifying specific factors contributing to noncompliance, verbal and physical aggression, tantrums, and defiance in children and adolescents. These factors include skill deficits in the areas of executive functioning, language processing, cognitive flexibility, emotion regulation and social skills. This approach provides innovative and practical strategies for working with families to develop lacking skills, to reduce unmanageable outbursts, and to help parents/caregivers pursue realistic expectations and to respond effectively to noncompliance if expectations are not met. The author's use of case examples and sample dialogues "bring the interventions to life, and helpful Q&A sections clarify common clinical dilemmas." The book dedicates two chapters to implementing these interventions in schools and in therapeutic/restrictive environments. This course is an intermediate to advanced level course for mental health professionals working with children and families.

The overview of the home study course is presented in a PDF. Participants must open or download the course overview before they will be granted access to the course examination. We recommend that you print a copy for your records. If you do not have the most recent version of Adobe Reader, click here to download a free copy. You will temporarily leave the site until the download is complete and you close out of the Adobe site.

eLearning Essentials, provider #1123, is approved as a provider for social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) www.aswb.org, through the Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. eLearning Essentials maintains responsibility for the program. Social Workers participating in this course will receive 9 continuing education clock hours.

eLearning Essentials, provider # 6235, is recognized by the National Board of Certified Counselors to offer continuing education credit for National Certified Counselors. National Certified Counselors participating in this course will receive 9 continuing education clock hours.

eLearning Essentials, provider #RCS050601, is recognized by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist Board to be a provider of continuing professsional education (CPE) for social workers and counselors. Social Workers and Counselors participating in this course will receive 9 continuing education clock hours.

eLearning Essentials, provider # 50-8572, is recognized by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling to offer continuing education for counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists. eLearning Essentials adheres to the Florida Board's guidelines and maintains responsibility for all programs. Participants will receive 9 continuing education clock hours.

eLearning Essentials, provider # PCE 4004, is recognized by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences to offer continuing education to meet MFT and LCSW licensure requirements. eLearning Essentials adheres to the California Board's guidelines and maintains responsibility for all programs. Participants will receive 9 continuing education clock hours.

eLearning Essentials adheres to the standards of each board and maintains responsibility for the program.

Course Objectives

• Identify the skill deficits that best explain a child's explosive behavior and the behavior of the child's adult caretakers.
• Utilize situational analysis to identify triggers that commonly precipitate explosive episodes in a child client.
• Implement three options for responding to problems or unmet expectations with children referred to by Greene and Ablon as the "plans framework."
• Utilize collaborative problem-solving to teach lacking cognitive skills contributing to the child's explosive behavior.
• Utilize collaborative problem-solving to assist parents in more effectively pursuing parental expectations.
• Identify and address family system issues that may be hampering collaborative problem-solving.
• Identify three general solution categories to guide families in brainstorming solutions during the problem solving process.
• Use "Proactive Plan B" (one of three intervention plans) to identify cognitive distortions and to provide disconfirming evidence at opportune moments.
• Implement the "plans framework" to reduce or eliminate the child's explosive behavior in the home, school, and therapeutic/restrictive settings.
• Identify barriers and ideas for overcoming these barriers when implementing the CPS Model in school and therapeutic/restrictive settings.
• Work collaboratively with educators utilizing the "Individualized Cognitive Challenges Plan" to monitor and discuss a child's response to Plan B in the school setting.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ross W. Greene, Ph.D., is Director of the Collaborative Problem Solving Institute (CPS) in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr, Greene received his Doctorate in clinical psychology from Virginia Tech after completing his predoctoral internship at the Children's National Medical Center/George Washington University Medical Center in Washington D.C. Prior to joining Mass General, he 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. He has written extensively on behavioral assessment, social functioning, and both school- and home-based interventions for children with disruptive behavior disorders.

J. Stuart Ablon, Ph.D., is Associate Director of the Collaborative Problem Solving Institute (CPS) in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Co-Director of the Center for Collaborative Problem Solving and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ablon received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and completed his pre- and post doctoral training at Massachusetts General and Harvard Medical School. He has authored numerous articles, chapters, and scientific papers on behavioral assessment and psychosocial interventions and currently specializes in the treatment of explosive children, adolescents, and their families.

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