Although the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) provides resources for child welfare agencies, opportunities exist to be generating interventions in treatment for conditions such as oppositional behavior as well. The CANS is a measurement tool that is becoming more widely used in the United States and worldwide. Because it offers a communication-based approach, the practitioner together with a team of professionals provides the scores on the youth. The CANS’ ability to identify the specific areas of need offers a glimpse into the youth’s treatment goals and placement plans to ensure their stability and safety.
However, what the CANS does not do is provide treatment options or suggested approaches. The CANS is meant to be an evaluative tool and therefore leaves the approach to improve the youth’s functioning to the provider. Yet one challenge with the CANS is that so many items can arise it becomes difficult to decide which one to choose or what to do with the choices. It is not uncommon for youths in residential facilities, for instance, to have between 10 to 20 items that score a 2 (requires action or intervention) or 3 (requires immediate action or intervention), including oppositional behavior. As a result, the treatment staff must take these severe behaviors and create a treatment plan that improves the youth’s functioning.
Oppositional behavior is a set of behaviors that is difficult to treat. But generating interventions for treatment is possible. The practitioner can unpack the behaviors associated with being oppositional and work with the youth to assist them in meeting their needs. Youths who engage in anti-authority or anti-rules behaviors gave up on the traditional ways to get their message across and therefore use other methods to work. Three areas that a practitioner can work with them on are:
1. Their social ability to get across how upset they are with their state of life.
2. Their skills to be independent and self-reliant.
3. Developing a knack to reduce physically or verbally aggressive acts to others.
With these goals, if they are acceptable, the youth and practitioner can then start generating interventions work on role-playing different exercises. These events allow the youth to express themselves in a safe place without harming anyone, and then to shape through practice different approaches. Many youths with oppositional behavior learn what they’ve seen such as violence and conflict; through new methods, they reduce their behaviors to meet their goals of freedom and individuality.
CANS offers the “what” for the practitioner; it is up to them to develop the “how.”
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PRAXES is a nationwide behavioral health software, consulting, and training company. No one in the behavioral health industry has a better reputation, and if you give us the chance, we’ll show you why! At PRAXES, our services improve the efficiency and structure of behavioral health agencies serving children and families nationwide. PRAXES brings over 45 years of administrative and clinical expertise. With more than 100 client companies nationwide, we offer the expertise to advance the quality of behavioral health services. We accomplish these goals through our new clinical decision software, our training of best practices, and helping companies meet regulatory standards. At PRAXES, we believe in being creative and fostering new ways to serve children and their families. Our vision is to empower the families our agencies serve with skills that not only improve their functioning, but help them to thrive in their everyday lives. When you give us the chance, you’ll be connected directly to our friendly staff, so you can expect immediate attention to your inquiry. So, don’t wait, call now!
Dan Thorne has unique perspectives on the field of mental health. As a clinician, he has had over 40 years of experience working with clients in the Southern California area. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Irvine, he worked with children in the Orange County Juvenile Hall. Here he honed his earliest techniques on at-risk children. After that, he obtained his Master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton.
In the 1990’s, Dan turned his attention to the clinical and administrative side of behavioral health organizations. For three years, he was the Assistant Administrator of Starting Point, a chemical dependency facility in Costa Mesa, CA. In 2001, he took an opportunity to be the Director of Harbor View Community Services Center in Long Beach. When he arrived, the Center had only 80 clients and 13 staff. When he left, there were over 400 clients and 75 staff. Dan created several programs through their contract with the Los Angeles County Departments of Mental Health and Child and Family Services. Under his guidance, Harbor View became one of the leading providers of children’s services in Los Angeles County.
While improving the results of the client’s parents at the Center, Dan reflected on his experiences as a parent. His children themselves had special needs such as mental and intellectual challenges, and Dan knew the toll it takes on the parent. In order to help the child, the parent has to be healthy. From this concept, he created his parenting program. After years of refining it, teaching it to his staff at the Center, and then taking the results and comments from these efforts, he became the developer of the current PRAXES program. It is a culmination of Dan’s personal trials and tribulations as a parent along with empirical results and research of over 40 parenting programs.
Our vision at PRAXES is to advance the strength of parents and caregivers of children with special needs (mental health, intellectual, or physical) through education, support, and empowerment. Thus, they can live healthy and functional lives while caring for the child.
Apogee is a clinical decision software designed to help behavioral health practitioners with their treatment and patient engagement. It provides evidence-based and research-based components. Not only do they consist of elements from such practices as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Seeking Safety, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Functional Behavior Analysis, but also the Intensive Models for Parents, Youth, and Children.
PRAXES has over 30 years of accreditation experience. We know what it takes to get your organization accredited. Whether it’s Joint Commission, CARF, or COA, our team can provide an evaluation of your current status and review the standards which need improvements. We will assist you with the policies, documentation, and training required to be accredited.
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