About

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, school and work expectations.

Since 2007 HBCC in 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 since 2002 this approach has realized improved outcomes in treatment and ultimately has improved relationships between children and their parents, their teachers, families, caregivers and their employers.

EXPERIENCE

Debra Ann Afarian

Community Educator, Think:Kids CPS Certified Parent Coach
Debra Ann has been training, consulting, and supporting Collaborative Problem Solving®(CPS) in Orange County since 2007. She provides various programming to learn CPS. Including, but not limited to a 2-hour Parent CPS Overview, the 6-Week CPS Parenting Course, a monthly Parent Support Club, 1:1 Parent Coaching and workshops to promote CPS whenever and where ever possible.

Debra Ann has provided her services to schools, residential treatment centers, educational programs, family homes, wraparound social services, reglious schools, day care, child care, after-school programs, foster care, and more. She is beginning a new journey to bring together "Parents and Educators Together as Allies" incorporating CPS Behavior Goals into IEP Behavioral Intervention Plans and 504's.

HBCC hosts expert CPS Trainers to facilitate CPS Trainings specifically geared for teachers and mental health providers.

CPS Certifed Trainers & Trauma Practitioners:

Bowman Consulting Group

www.bowmanconsultgroup.com

Rick Bowman, M.A., Clinical Psychology

Doris Bowman, M.S., Education/Special Education

CPS TRAININGS

2-hour Educator Overview

3-day Advanced Level 1 Essential Foundations CPS Training

1-day I'm a Teacher not a Therapist

1-day Truly Trauma-Informed?

1-day Your FBA is a Fantasy!

HBCC's team of Think:Kids CPS Certified Parent Coaches/Mentors and Trainers work to proactively expose parents, educators and mental health 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, education and treatment of complex children, teens and young adults and who present with concerning 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. HBCC's CPS trainings are derived from the Collaborative Problem Solving® concepts outlined in the books:

"Treating Explosive Kids"

by Ross W. Greene. PhD & J. Stuart Ablon, PhD

“The Explosive Child” by Ross W. Greene, PhD
“Lost at School” by Ross W. Greene, PhD
"The School Discipline Fix" by J. Stuart Ablon, PhD
"Change-able" by J. Stuart Ablon, PhD

Trainings are designed for parents, caregivers, educators, and mental health service providers 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?” as well as Certificates of Completion and in some trainings, CEUs.

The 6-week Parent class and 2-hour CPS Parent Overview are exclusively for parents/caregivers/grandparents. Parents/caregivers/grandparents are welcome to any of the CPS training offerings listed.

Educators, Mental Health Professionals and Service Providers are welcome to any of the offerings listed under CPS TRAININGS.

It is recommended that schools, clinicians and homes know the intervention components of Collaborative Problem Solving to help understand how to differentiate "unsolved problems" from "challenging behaviors". This way parents, educators, professionals and caregivers learn immediately what to do about the children, teens and young adults difficult-to-manage behaviors through a new lens when rewards, consequences and ignoring are not working to solve the unsolved problems.

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

Consideration of philosophical underpinnings of the Collaborative Problem Solving®(CPS) 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®(CPS) 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®(CPS) 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.

SCHEDULE AVAILABLE

CPS PARENT/CAREGIVER/GRANPARENT TRAININGS

6-week on-going course switches from weekday mornings, weeknights, to Saturday mornings
2-hour Parent Overview (on request)
Parent Support Club
Parent Coaching 1:1
Parent Group Coaching

CPS TRAININGS

2-hour Educator Overview
6-hour Educator Advanced Overview
3-day Advanced Level 1 Essential Foundations CPS Training

1-day I'm a Teacher not a Therapist
1-day Truly Trauma-Informed?
1-day Your FBA is a Fantasty!

Certificate of completion is awarded to those who complete any of the trainings.
Completion of training qualifies, in some instances, for Continuing Education Credits (CEU).
Completion of Advanced Level 1 qualifies participant onto a Level 2 Training.
Completion of courses, Level 1 & Level 2 qualifies participant for knowledge in the CPS approach.
Completion of Level 1 & Level 2 qualifies participant onto the Certification track (optional).

Program Overview

Trainings in CPS

CPS is an approach to understanding and helping children 3-25 years old with concerning and 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), post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), etc, or a developmental disability such as, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), down-syndrome, etc.

Typically a child with concerning and 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 adults in understand challenging behaviors and help parents and educators 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.

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 - Unilateral Imposition of Adult Will
Plan B - Solve the problem collaboratively and proactively
Plan C - Drop or setting aside the expectation (for now)

HELPING THE BEHAVIORALLY CHALLENGING CHILD