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  • The Explosive Child

  • A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children
  • Written by: Dr. Ross W. Greene
  • Narrated by: Dr. Ross W. Greene
  • Length: 2 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (346 ratings)

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The Explosive Child

Written by: Dr. Ross W. Greene
Narrated by: Dr. Ross W. Greene
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Publisher's Summary

Dr. Ross Greene, a distinguished clinician and pioneer in the treatment of kids with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges, has worked with thousands of explosive children, and he has good news: these kids aren't attentionseeking, manipulative, or unmotivated, and their parents aren't passive, permissive disciplinarians. Rather, explosive kids are lacking some crucial skills in the domains of flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, and problem solving, and they require a different approach to parenting.

The Explosive Child is the highly acclaimed, lifechanging parenting guide in which Dr. Greene first delineated the Collaborative Problem Solving approach.  Dr. Greene explains why kids exhibit challenging behaviors, why traditional behavior management strategies may not be effective for many kids, and how to use Plan B to solve problems collaboratively and teach your child the skills he or she is lacking.  

As the model has evolved over the years, so has The Explosive Child, and it is available here in an abridged and updated fourth edition narrated by Dr. Greene.

Throughout this compassionate, insightful, and practical book, Dr. Greene provides a new conceptual framework for understanding their difficulties.  He explains why traditional parenting and treatment often don't work with these children, and he describes what to do instead. Instead of relying on rewarding and punishing, Dr. Greene's Collaborative Problem Solving model promotes working with explosive children to solve the problems that precipitate explosive episodes, and teaching these kids the skills they lack.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2011 Dr. Ross Greene (P)2011 Dr. Ross Greene

Editorial Review

Screaming, crying, kicking children. Worried and frustrated parents. They think they’ve tried everything to stop these severe tantrums, but nothing seems to work. The Explosive Child offers a whole new understanding of the behavioural challenges faced by families.

In this title, Dr. Ross Greene presents a model that he has developed and updated for several years. According to the writer, these children react so violently to mundane situations simply because they do not have the capacity to do otherwise. With his own voice, Dr. Greene explains that traditional methods (punishment, rewards, therapy or medication), which are efficient on other children, do not work on explosive kids due to the fact that they lack several essential skills targeted by these methods: adaptability, frustration tolerance and problem solving. As a consequence, their parents need to take a different approach.

In his fast-paced tone, Dr. Greene gives his expert advice and insights to help parents understand why explosive children present difficulties. He guides the listener through the Collaborative Problem Solving process to solve problems in a particular way and to help children acquire the specific skills they may lack. Through a captivating listening experience, The Explosive Child lays out Dr. Greene’s groundbreaking work and provides guidance in order to make behavioural challenges more manageable.

What listeners say about The Explosive Child

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  • BT
  • 2018-09-19

#Audible1

#Audible1
Great book. I wish there were more concrete examples of how to apply it.

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Thank you Ross Green!

Interesting and easy to listen to, even for me, someone who's mind wanders easily.
I now don't feel powerless over my grandson's outbursts and negative reactions. I know they will pass and I know that I have the tools to deal with future issues. In all, I would say this book and all the info on the website has been very empowering and will help our family and my little grandson immensely! Thank you!!!

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relatable for any parent

this audio book was very relatable and eye opening as a parent. while my child has some outbursts from time to time and difficulty with anxiety and managing behaviours, they aren't to the extreme as some of the examples but the approach used to decrease the explosions are easily reached.

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Brilliant

The content was incredibly enlightening, and presented in an easy listening manner. I enjoyed the narrator's voice and way he presented the material. I have no doubt that the strategies outlined by Dr Greene will prove very useful for me in dealing with my own explosive child, as well as my other, non-explosive children. The plan outlined is something useful for anyone who is presented with a problem to solve with someone else, and the value of avoiding emotional explosions can be seen from the very beginning. Highly recommended!

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Diffusing the Bomb

I was lost, dealing with a child who was both loving and explosive, this book is something I have shared with my entire family so we all have a better understanding of my child and so we can all work with him to reduce the Explosive reactions/ situations and encourage the development of life long skills he will need to diffuse his bombs on his own. I 10000% recommend for anyone, who has any interactions with any children.

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Very good, we'll in formative.

Very easy to listen to and great information if you keep an open mind, and stick with plan B.

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calming the explosion

Dr Greene outlines Collaborative Problem Solving. A parenting method that can calm your life. worth a listen.

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  • 2022-12-30

A must-read if you’re new to the parents of neurodivergent’s club

Ross Greene is so good at putting concepts in a very understandable and relatable manner so you can apply them to your own situation.

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Excellent parental guidance

This is accessible, straight to the point, non-judgemental guidance for parents. Love Ross Greene's work.

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Very eye opening.

sometimes seemed to go over the same points but that might be a good thing. Quality content- I have no doubt this will help.

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