Helping the Behaviorally Challenging Child

ABOUT

Helping the Behaviorally Challenging Child (HBCC) is the only organization in Orange County focused exclusively on a system of care around Collaborative Problem Solving®. This exciting evidence-based approach helps with parenting, teaching and treating, children, teens, and young adults, with difficult-to-manage behaviors who are having trouble meeting the demands of home life and school expectations. Orange County, California has been a leader in this innovative model that has proven its efficacy at all levels of caregiver support. Both locally and nationally this approach has realized improved outcomes in treatment and ultimately has improved relationships between children, their teachers, families, and caregivers.

EXPERIENCE

Debra Ann Afarian

Community Educator, Parent Coach, Think:Kids CPS Certified
Debra Ann has been training, consulting, and supporting Collaborative Problem Solving® (CPS) in Orange County since 2010. She provides a 2-hour In-service Overview, teaches the 5-Week Parenting Course, holds a monthly Support Group and promotes CPS whenever and where ever possible. Debra Ann has provided her services to schools, residential treatment centers, educational programs, family homes, Wraparound social services, Sunday schools, day care, child care, after-school programs, foster care, and more.

HBCC brings in expert trainers to host advanced 6-hour In-service Overviews and 3-day Tier I Training's.

As a Think:Kids CPS Certified Parent Coach, Debra Ann Afarian, has worked to proactively expose parents, teachers and professionals with the knowledge of this evidence-based, social-emotional, trauma-informed, inclusive approach called Collaborative Problem Solving, for strengthening and improving the lives of all involved in the raising of complex children, teens and young adults and who present with behavior challenges.

PHILOSOPHY - KIDS DO WELL IF THEY CAN...

Adult/Child power struggles can leave both parties frustrated, with adults wondering how it could have gone differently. The 2-hour Introduction and 5-week course, are derived from the Collaborative Problem Solving concepts outlined in the books:

"Treating Explosive Kids"

by PhD's Dr. Ross W. Greene & Dr. J. Stuart Ablon

“The Explosive Child” & “Lost at School”

by Ross W. Greene, PhD

"The School Discipline Fix" & "Change-able"

by J. Stuart Ablon, PhD

Trainings are designed for parents, teachers, professionals and caregivers to learn how to effectively support and teach lagging skills to children, teens, & young adults with complex behavioral challenges. Participants in the training's will receive exposure into the assessment of behaviors to answer the question “what’s getting in the way of this child/teen/young adult meeting the daily demands of life?” This is followed by the intervention components of Collaborative Problem Solving so that parents, teachers & professionals and caregivers learn immediately what to do about the child/teen/young adults difficult-to-manage behaviors.

COURSE / OVERVIEW OBJECTIVES

Consideration of philosophical underpinnings of the Collaborative Problem Solving approach.
Discussions on how traditional approaches to address maladaptive behavior have been ineffective for people with moderate to severe social, emotional, behavioral, and life challenges.
Identify how the Collaborative Problem Solving Approach assesses challenges in living.
Begin to see challenging behavior as a by-product of lagging skills vs. willful.
Begin identifying a highly specific list of problems to be solved in living.
Identify key cognitive skills necessary for handling demands that life puts in front of us.
Identify expectations that address the needs of the person based on an accurate Collaborative Problem Solving assessment.
Identify the steps necessary to be effective at Collaborative Problem Solving and what goals the Collaborative Problem Solving process accomplishes.
Identify where cognitive skills are taught in the Collaborative Problem Solving process.

Program Overview

5-Week Parenting Course

CPS is an approach to understanding and helping children 3-25 years old with behavioral challenges who may or may not carry a psychiatric diagnoses such as, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), pathological demand avoidance (PDA), conduct disorder (CD), attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mood disorders (DMDD), pediatric bipolar disorder (PBP), post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), etc, or a developmental disability such as, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), down-syndrome, etc. Typically a child with challenging behaviors will have a diagnosis or a developmental disability; however, HBCC is not in the business of a diagnosis, HBCC is here to help understand challenging behaviors and help parents and teachers understand what has conventionally been done about them and what neuroscience has learned to do about them to build skills and break the cycle of stressors causing challenging behaviors.

CPS uses a structured problem solving process to help adults pursue their expectations while reducing challenging behavior and building helping relationships and thinking skills. Specifically, the CPS approach focuses on teaching the neurocognitive skills that challenging kids lack related to problem solving, flexibility, and frustration tolerance. Unlike traditional models of discipline, this approach avoids the use of power, control, and motivational procedures and instead focuses on teaching at-risk kids the skills they need to succeed. CPS provides a common philosophy, language and process with clear guideposts that can be used across settings. In addition, CPS operationalizes principles of trauma-informed care.

Week 1 - What's getting in the way, what conventional rewards and consequences do and don't do
Week 2 - What is Collaborative Problem Solving, three responses to unmet expectations, the three plans outlined: Plan A, Plan B, Plan C
Week 3 - The ingredients to Plan B, the child's concern, the adult's concern, brainstorming solutions
Week 4 - Communicating Collaborative Problem Solving, the three R's: Regulate, Relate, Reason
Week 5 - Role Play, Troubleshooting, Finding Service Providers & School Support and Review

Lagging thinking skills are identified in five primary areas:

Language and Communication Skills
Attention and Working Memory Skills
Emotional and Self-Regulation Skills
Cognitive Flexibility Skills
Social Thinking Skills

Three options to respond to predictable difficulties:

Plan A - Imposition of adult will
Plan B - Solve the problem collaboratively
Plan C - Drop the expectation (for now, at least)

CPS has materials and can be provided in the following:

English and Spanish

HELPING THE BEHAVIORALLY CHALLENGING CHILD