Problem-Solving Skills Training plus Parent Management Training (PSST + PMT)

Problem-Solving Skills Training plus Parent Management Training (PSST + PMT)

PSST is a therapeutic intervention aimed at teaching children with conduct disorder how to approach interpersonal situations. Treatment consists of 12 to 20 weekly individual sessions, approximately 30 to 50 minutes each. Children are taught a step-by-step approach to solving interpersonal problems. Prosocial behaviors are fostered through modeling and direct reinforcement. Structured tasks such as games, academic activities, and stories are used to teach children how to apply what they have learned. Over the course of treatment, children are encouraged to increase application of lessons to real-life situations. The program includes a token reinforcement system, but relies more on social reinforcement. Therapists also teach parents to help their child use the problem-solving steps.

Train the child to think differently about situations and behave differently in diverse situations, Help the child internalize the problem solving steps so that they are able to use them to evaluate potential solutions to problems occurring outside of therapy, Learn and Generalize problem solving skills and how to apply problem solving skills using self-instruction, Learn how to generate positive solutions that would enable the child to avoid physical aggression, resolve the conflict, and keep themselves out of trouble

Alan Kazdin, Ph.D., ABPP

Yale University

alan.kazdin@yale.edu

(203) 432-9993