Lost and Found. Ross W. Greene
schools abandon old, toxic ways of responding to challenging behavior.”
—DEBRA THIBODEAU, MEd, CAS, SCHOOL COUNSELOR, GEORGETOWN, ME
“Throughout Lost and Found, the voices of educators are a testament to how this simple, research-based process, done with rigor, results in changing beliefs, practices, and school cultures. Ross Greene should be considered a living, international treasure.”
—PEGGY BLAIR, SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION, AVON MAITLAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD, ONTARIO, CANADA
Lost & Found
Unlocking Collaboration and Compassion to Help Our Most Vulnerable, Misunderstood Students (and All the Rest)
ROSS W. GREENE, PHD
SECOND EDITION
Copyright © 2021 by Ross W. Greene, PhD. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Greene, Ross W., author. | Jossey-Bass Inc., publisher.
Title: Lost & found : unlocking collaboration and compassion to help our most vulnerable, misunderstood students (and all the rest) / Ross W. Greene, PhD.
Description: Second edition. | [San Francisco] : Jossey-Bass, [2021] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021017296 (print) | LCCN 2021017297 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119813576 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119813590 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119813583 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Problem children—Education. | Behavior disorders in children. | Behavior modification. Classification: LCC LC4801 .G724 2022 (print) | LCC LC4801 (ebook) | DDC 371.93—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021017296
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021017297
Cover Design: Paul McCarthy
Cover Art: © Istockphoto | Slobo
SECOND EDITION
Dedicated to my mom, Cynthia Greene, who taught me a thing or two about empathy, compassion, and resilience
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ross W. Greene, PhD, is the originator of the innovative, evidence-based approach known as Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS), as described in this book and his prior books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, and Raising Human Beings. Dr. Greene served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for over twenty years, and is currently adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech and adjunct professor in the Faculty of Science at University of Technology Sydney in Australia. He is also the founding director of the nonprofit Lives in the Balance (www.livesinthebalance.org), which provides a vast array of free, web-based resources on his model, and advocates on behalf of kids with concerning behaviors and their parents, teachers, and other caregivers. He also developed and executive produced the award-winning documentary film, The Kids We Lose. Dr. Greene is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and scientific papers on the effectiveness of the CPS model; the classification of and outcomes in youth with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges; and student-teacher compatibility. He consults to families, schools, inpatient psychiatry units, and residential and juvenile detention facilities throughout the world and lives in Freeport, Maine.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are many theories and models that influenced the approach to helping kids with concerning behaviors—called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS)—described in this book, including social learning theory, family systems theory, transactional/reciprocal models of development, goodness-of-fit theory, personal construct theory, neuropsychology, and developmental psychopathology. I am indebted to the countless people who exposed me to and taught me about those theories and models, including Dr. Elizabeth Altmaier (then at the University of Florida); Drs. Tom Ollendick and George Clum (at the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech); and Dr. Mary Ann McCabe and Lorraine Lougee, then at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC. Of course, my children—Talia and Jacob (now twenty-three and twenty years old)—have taught me plenty. And the influence of my original teachers—my father, Irving (who is no longer with us), and my mother, Cynthia, to whom this book is dedicated—is inestimable.
But I am especially indebted to the thousands of general and special education classroom teachers, school administrators, paraprofessionals, ed techs, school mental health professionals, and specialists I've had the good fortune to work with and learn from over the past twenty-five years. Despite working under very difficult circumstances, often thanklessly, you've taught me what a huge difference an educator can make in a child's life, most especially those with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges who badly need someone to listen to them, nurture them, and help and care about them. You have my everlasting