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The CPS Model

Collaborative & Proactive Solutions  (CPS) is recognized as an empirically-supported, evidence-based treatment by the  California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare  (CEBC). Here’s an overview of its basic tenets:

When kids have difficulty meeting certain expectations, they become frustrated. Some kids are lacking the skills — flexibility, frustration tolerance, emotion regulation, and problem solving — to handle that frustration adaptively. And that’s when they exhibit concerning behaviors. In other words, concerning behavior is simply the way in which some kids communicate that there are expectations they are having difficulty meeting. In the CPS model, those “unmet” expectations are called “unsolved problems.” The emphasis of the CPS model isn’t on modifying the concerning behavior by imposing consequences. Rather the model focuses on identifying unsolved problems and then engaging kids in solving them. Solved problems don’t cause concerning behavior; only unsolved problems do. Consequences don’t solve problems.

In the CPS model, the problem solving is of the  collaborative  and  proactive  variety. This is in contrast to many of the interventions that are commonly applied to kids, which are of the unilateral and emergent variety. As such, the CPS model is non-punitive and non-adversarial, decreases the likelihood of conflict, enhances relationships, improves communication, and helps kids and adults learn and display skills on the more positive side of human nature:  empathy, appreciating how one’s behavior is affecting others, resolving disagreements in ways that do not involve conflict, taking another’s perspective, and honesty.

How do you identify a kid’s lagging skills and unsolved problems? By completing the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems (ALSUP). And how do you solve those problems? By doing Plan B, which involves three basic ingredients. The first ingredient – called the Empathy step – involves gathering information so as to achieve the clearest understanding of what’s making it hard for a kid to meet a particular expectation. The second ingredient (called the Define the Problem step) involves entering the adult’s concern or perspective into consideration (i.e., why it’s important that the expectation be met). The third ingredient (called the Invitation step) involves having adults and kids brainstorm solutions so as to arrive at a plan of action that is both realistic and mutually satisfactory…in other words, a solution that addresses both concerns and that both parties can actually do.

In countless families, schools, inpatient psychiatry units, group homes, residential facilities, and juvenile detention facilities, the CPS model has been shown to be an effective way to solve problems, reduce conflict, improve behavior, and enhance the skills kids need to function adaptively in the real world.

You can learn more about the CPS model on the website of the non-profit  Lives in the Balance , where you’ll find vast free resources to help you use the model, including streaming video, a listening library, and lots more.  Various books, CDs, and DVDs describing the model are available in the  CPS Store  on this website, and training options can be found on the Workshops/Training  page.

Is there a one-page description of the model that I can download?

Sure thing! Just  click here to view and print it.  

Didn’t Dr. Greene originally refer to his model by the name Collaborative Problem Solving?

Yes, you can read more about the name change  here . It’s not a pretty tale…

Collaborative and Proactive Solutions™

Clinical Handbook of Assessing and Treating Conduct Problems in Youth pp 193–220 Cite as

Collaborative Problem Solving

• Ross W. Greene 4  
• First Online: 01 January 2010

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Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) is an evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral psychosocial treatment approach first described in the book The Explosive Child (Greene, 1998). The model blends many different lines of theory and research, including developmental theory, systems theory, social learning theory, and research in the neurosciences. CPS has been applied predominantly to youth with externalizing behavior problems, and has been implemented in a wide range of settings, including families, ­general and special education schools, inpatient psychiatry units, and residential and juvenile correction facilities. This chapter describes the most current rendition of the model, along with research findings to date.

• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• Interaction Partner
• Unsolved Problem
• Challenging Behavior
• Externalize Behavior Problem

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Greene, R.W. (2011). Collaborative Problem Solving. In: Murrihy, R., Kidman, A., Ollendick, T. (eds) Clinical Handbook of Assessing and Treating Conduct Problems in Youth. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6297-3_8

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The Source For Parenting Advice & Events In Oregon

• Collaborative Problem Solving – Plans A And C

This is the sixth column in a series of columns about Collaborative Problem Solving, or CPS. You can find the previous column here .

The previous columns have centered around how to use “Plan B” to solve unsolved problems with your child. “Plan B” is the preferred method of solving problems. However, within the CPS framework, there is also a “Plan A” and “Plan C”. Let’s look briefly at what those are and when they might be of use.

“Plan A” is CPS terminology for the conventional method of solving problems, in which the adult simply imposes their will on the child. There is a relational cost to using Plan A, and it should be used sparingly, but there may be times when safety concerns outweigh the potential relational cost and the adult must find some way to simply impose their will. Consider a parent who simply picks up and holds a toddler, despite the ensuing tantrum, to prevent them from running into the street. Think of the parent of a teenager withholding permission for their child to attend a party that is not properly supervised. These are the types of scenarios in which Plan A might be appropriate. It’s essential when using Plan A that the parent has a workable plan for enforcement. If your plan is not enforceable, then you must go to Plan B.

“Plan C” is CPS terminology for choosing to ignore the problem, for the time being. You might employ this for one of two reasons:

1. Solving the problem requires cognitive skills that are currently beyond your child’s level of development.

2. You are focused on other unsolved problems at the moment.

When employing Plan C, it’s important to note that you are only ignoring this for the time being . There will come a time later on, after more cognitive development has taken place, or after some other unsolved problems resolve into durable solutions, when you will be able to take up any problem that you’ve chosen to “Plan C” for the moment.

The next, and final, column in this series will center around how to prioritize which unsolved problems to tackle first. It will also provide some further CPS resources.

Matthew King lives with his fifteen-year-old son in Corvallis, Oregon, where he’s taught English for thirteen years. He also does advocacy work in the school district for children who have experienced trauma in early childhood. In his spare time he hikes, reads, writes, practices meditation, and watches his son ride dirt bikes. He welcomes comments and feedback and can be contacted at [email protected]

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Parenting, teaching and treating challenging kids: the collaborative problem solving approach.

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Think:Kids and the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital are pleased to offer an online training program featuring Dr. J. Stuart Ablon. This introductory training provides a foundation for professionals and parents interested in learning the evidence-based approach to understanding and helping children and adolescents with behavioral challenges called Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS). This online training serves as the prerequisite for our professional intensive training.

The CPS approach provides a way of understanding and helping kids who struggle with behavioral challenges. Challenging behavior is thought of as willful and goal oriented which has led to approaches that focus on motivating better behavior using reward and punishment programs. If you’ve tried these strategies and they haven’t worked, this online training is for you! At Think:Kids we have some very different ideas about why these kids struggle. Research over the past 30 years demonstrates that for the majority of these kids, their challenges result from a lack of crucial thinking skills when it comes to things like problem solving, frustration tolerance and flexibility. The CPS approach, therefore, focuses on helping adults teach the skills these children lack while resolving the chronic problems that tend to precipitate challenging behavior.

This training is designed to allow you to learn at your own pace. You must complete the modules sequentially, but you can take your time with the content as your schedule allows. Additional resources for each module provide you with the opportunity for further development. Discussion boards for each module allow you to discuss concepts and your own experiences with other participants. Faculty from the Think:Kids program monitor the boards and offer their point of view.

Registrants will have access to course materials from the date of their registration through the course expiration date.

All care Providers: $149 Due to COVID-19, we are offering this course at the reduced rate of $99 for a limited time.

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Refunds will be issued for requests received within 10 business days of purchase, but an administrative fee of $35 will be deducted from your refund. No refunds will be made thereafter. Additionally, no refunds will be made for individuals who claim CME or credit, regardless of when they request a refund.

Through the duration of the course, the faculty moderator will respond to any clinical questions that are submitted to the interactive discussion board. The faculty moderator for this course will be:

J. Stuart Ablon, PhD

*** Please note that discussion boards are reviewed on a regular basis, and responses to all questions will be posted within one week of receipt. ***

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This program is intended for: Parents, clinicians, educators, allied mental health professionals, and direct care staff.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• Shift thinking and approach to foster positive relationships with children
• Reduce challenging behavior
• Foster proactive, rather than reactive interventions
• Teach skills related to self-regulation, communication and problem solving

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On the issues that matter in Malone NY (USA)

—Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD

What about children and teens who are non-compliant—who won’t do as you say?

Defiance, or non-compliance, has many origins and causes.

I find the work of a Harvard psychologist, Dr. Ross Greene, to be very helpful on chronic non-compliance.  His book is called The Explosive Child . (He’s written a more technical version for therapists and teachers called Treating Explosive Kids .)

Greene calls his method Collaborative Problem Solving.

Just how useful is Collaborative Problem Solving?  Juvenile correction facilities in the State of Maine managed to reduce their rates of solitary confinement by 90 percent using Collaborative Problem Solving, once staff and guards were trained in the technique.  Pretty impressive.

At the root of Collaborative Problem Solving is a shift in basic assumptions about defiance.  Instead of seeing non-compliance as an act of willfulness (“he wants to be like that”), it is viewed as a skills deficit (“there are things he doesn’t know how to do, which get in the way of complying”).

Kids want to do well if they can, argues Dr. Greene.  The issue, he says, is to teach them skills, so as not to have to rely solely on ways of motivating them.

Skills teaching means describing, demonstrating, providing opportunities for practice, and helping a person to apply skills during times of stress or crisis, when the skill is most needed and hardest to put into action.  The involved adults need guidelines and practice, too.

Here are several of the skills that may be weak or missing in chronically non-compliant children:

(1) Language skills:  A child or teen may not be able to understand language well enough or fast enough to get the full meaning of what is said to him.  He may have trouble getting his own thoughts and feelings into words.  Children with learning and reading disabilities often have language difficulties. (2) Executive functions:  These are the planning and thinking skills, which tend to be poor in ADHD, bipolar disorder, and other types of problems. One executive skill is the ability to suspend emotions temporarily-put them on hold-in order to think through and solve a problem. Another, called working memory, is the ability to hold a group of ideas in mind while thinking about them.  Specifically, in problem-solving, a person needs to remember similar experiences from the past, think about the needs of different people in the present situation, and project possible solutions forward into the future to see what their outcomes might be.  This is a lot of thinking power. A third important executive skill, set shifting, is the ability to shift smoothly from one set of rules and expectations to another.  Some people say “no” at first to every request, but come around if left alone with the idea for a few minutes.  (Teachers know that children are more wound up when they come in from recess, and take some time to settle down.  This is set shifting.) (3) Emotional regulation skills:  This refers to emotional state at baseline, away from conflict or times of frustration.  For instance, a chronically anxious, grouchy, irritable, or sad person is going to have more trouble handling frustration and conflict, and may need treatment for underlying emotional states and needs. (4) Cognitive flexibility skills:  Some people are black-and-white thinkers.  They think it’s their way or no way, and can’t see how their own needs might be still taken care of by a different plan.  Other people tolerate lots of shades of grey.  They are good at compromising, trying a different way, or taking others’ points of view.  Many people with autism spectrum problems are black-and-white thinkers. (5) Social skills:  Some people don’t have good antennae for what other people are thinking or feeling, and aren’t good at figuring out by intuition and imitation how to act so other people are comfortable.  People in the autism spectrum have trouble with this.

The goal of Collaborative Problem Solving is to use problems to be solved (when one person wants one thing, and the other person wants another thing) as opportunities to teach a child through the skills deficit (or several deficits) which gets in the way of his problem-solving.  Problems are solved using plan A, B, or C. “A” means the adult’s will prevails, “C” means the child’s will prevails, and “B” is for both.

All the interesting work, of course, occurs in B.  Next time I’ll describe the three plans, and how to achieve B.

• For Clinicians »

If you follow the latest neuroscience research, you know that kids with challenging behavior lack the skill, not the will, to behave well. No wonder behavior contracts, token economy systems, and other motivational strategies don’t work and often make things worse.

"Across our youth residential treatment, foster care, day treatment, and mentoring services, Collaborative Problem Solving has helped our organization to improve quality, patient experience, and cost of treatment. We have witnessed dramatic reductions in clients’ challenging behavior and improvements in youth‐staff relationships."

– bob lieberman, former ceo, kairos, cps works for clinicians.

Are you looking for a different approach to help those hard to reach kids with challenging behavior? Look no further. Collaborative Problem Solving® (CPS) is a completely different way of understanding and helping.

Learn how to identify the neurocognitive skills kids lack and a compassionate and relational approach to building skills where adults partner with kids to develop solutions. CPS is evidence-based, neuro-biologically and trauma-informed, and child and family-centered. Developed at Massachusetts General Hospital in the  #1-ranked Department of Psychiatry in the United States,  CPS reduces challenging behavior and punitive interventions while building skills and the therapeutic alliance. Ready to make the shift?

86% average reduction in physical restraint.

71% fewer self-inflicted injuries.

60% of children exhibited improved behavior 

74% average reduction in use of seclusion.

Bring CPS to Your Program

Do you want to reduce restraints, seclusions, and critical incidents in your therapeutic program? Does your staff understand trauma-informed principles but need help with what to do in the moment?

Collaborative Problem Solving® (CPS) provides an evidence-based yet practical solution that empowers both child and family voices. It can be taught to staff as well as to the families you serve using a structured curriculum. Demonstrated to be effective in outpatient, in-home, and milieu-based environments, CPS is the unifying solution you’ve been searching for.

Bring CPS to Your Organization

Find a public training.

The CPS-APT walks you through the steps of assessing unmet expectations/triggers, skills, and challenging behaviors, as well as planning your intervention.

This completed version of the CPS-APT is intended to help clinical and program staff through the steps of assessing unmet expectations/triggers, skills, and challenging behaviors, as well as intervention planning.

The Plan B Organizer helps you or your team prepare for doing Plan B and stay on track while you are doing Plan B with some helpful tips and reminders.

Some resources are available in other languages, please contact us for more information.

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