Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS)

Background
CPS was developed by Dr Ross Greene over 10 years ago. The is a cognitive behavioral
approach and was first developed as a treatment plan for young people and their families
in an outpatient setting.
Greene found that in his clinical practice traditional
cognitive/behavioral methods were being driven from a clinical perspective and were not
involving enough the young person who was displaying social, emotional or behavior
problems.
The underlying philosophy of The Collaborative Problem Solving Model (CPS) is that Kids
do well if they can. In essence it proposes that if young people have the capacity/skills to
cope with the demands of their environment they will adapt in a functional manner. CPS
proposes that if the child lacks the capacity /skills to cope with the demands placed upon
them, they are likely to display more maladaptive and problematic behaviors. 1
I use the motivational perspective because children do well if they really want to do their
task, if they have a motivation to work they enjoy it what theyre doing.