Parenting Great Kids Podcast - Episode 181
Raising the Explosive Child
with guest Dr. Ross Greene
Hosted by Dr. Meg Meeker | October 19, 2022 | 39:50 min

Today's Guest(s)
Ross W. Greene, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and the originator of the innovative, evidence-based approach called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS), as described in his influential books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, Lost & Found, and Raising Human Beings. He also developed and executive produced the award-winning documentary film The Kids We Lose, released in 2018. Dr. Greene was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for over 20 years and is now founding director of the non-profit Lives in the Balance.
He is also currently adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech and in the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Greene has worked with several thousand kids with concerning behaviors and their caregivers, and he and his colleagues have overseen implementation and evaluation of the CPS model in countless schools, inpatient psychiatry units, and residential and juvenile detention facilities, with dramatic effect: significant reductions in recidivism, discipline referrals, detentions, suspensions, and use of restraint and seclusion. Dr. Greene lectures throughout the world and lives in Freeport, Maine.
EPISODE NOTES
Dr. Ross Greene sits down with Dr. Meeker to discuss his book, The Explosive Child and the approach called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS). Dr. Greene discusses the problems and frustrations that make a child explosive or implosive. He explains that concerning behaviors are caused by unsolved problems and expectations and if those problems are never solved, the behaviors are going to still exist until we find a solution. Medical diagnosis like Autism Spectrum Disorder do not tell us everything we need to know about a child. Each child is unique in the way they process unsolved problems or expectations.
Some topics covered:
- The collaborative and proactive solutions model is just as applicable to impulsive kids as it is to the explosive kids.
- Concerning behaviors are simply the means, by which the kid is communicating that there is an expectation they are having trouble meeting.
- Finding solutions to the unsolved problems.
- Identify certain expectations causing the unsolved problem(s).
- Engage kids in the process of solving problems in a way that they’re heard, the caregiver is heard, and we are coming up with solutions that must address the concerns of both parties.
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