Lives in the Balance is a non-profit organization founded by Dr. Ross Greene to help people -- parents, educators, mental health professionals, and staff in therapeutic facilities -- better understand and help kids with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges and implement the model of care he originated, called Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS). Lives in the Balance aims to accomplish this mission primarily through no-cost web-based programming.

The Directors of Lives in the Balance were chosen because of their commitment to CPS and the compassionate treatment of children in a diverse array of settings, including schools, inpatient psychiatry units, residential facilities, juvenile corrections facilities, and outpatient mental health settings:

 
Dr. Laura Baker: Dr. Baker is formerly head of school at Greenfield Center School, the first school to embrace and implement the CPS model. Dr. Baker is now on the faculty at Westfield State College in Westfield, Massachusetts, and is co-authoring a book for educators on implementing the CPS model in schools.

Julie Benay: Ms. Benay is principal at Swanton School in Swanton, Vermont, where she has been a tireless advocate for implementation of the CPS model in her school system and region.

Laura Fuller, Ph.D.: Dr. Fuller is a neuropsychologist at Shodair Children's Hospital, a residential and inpatient facility for children and adolescents in Helena, Montana, where she has spearheaded implementation of the CPS model. Shodair is an example of what can be accomplished with tenacity, energy, and persistence.

Stephanie Meyer, Ph.D.: Dr. Meyer is Former Clinical Director of the Emotion Regulation Program in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She brings to Lives in the Balance her expertise in the use of CPS in outpatient settings.

Kathy Regan, RN: Ms. Regan is nurse manager on the Child Assessment Unit (CAU) at Cambridge City Hospital in Boston, where she and her staff have virtually eliminated the use of restraint and seclusion. Ms. Regan is a leader in the national movement to eliminate these procedures in all restrictive therapeutic settings, and was recently awarded the 2009 APNA Award for Innovation in Practice for her work in implementing the CPS model on the CAU as a major component in providing Trauma Informed Care to children.

Bartlett Stoodley: Mr. Stoodley is Associate Commissioner of Juvenile Services in the Department of Corrections in Maine, where he and his colleagues have dramatically improved services to troubled youth (and where the recidivism rate has plummeted from 60 percent to 12 percent over the past six years). Barry is a national leader advocating for the improved understanding and treatment of incarcerated youth.

---

Dr. Greene is author of the highly acclaimed books The Explosive Child and Lost at School. He is also Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, staff psychologist at the Cambridge Health Alliance, senior lecturer in the school psychology program in the Department of Education at Tufts University, and adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech. Dr. Greene consults extensively to families, general and special education schools, inpatient and residential facilities, and systems of juvenile detention, and lectures widely throughout the world. His research has been funded by, among others, the National Institute on Drug Abuse/National Institutes of Mental Health, the Stanley Medical Research Institute, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Maine Juvenile Justice Advisory Group. He is no longer affiliated in any way with Massachusetts General Hospital.

If you'd like to contact Dr. Greene to discuss consultation to your school or facility, to speak for your group or organization, or to ask a question, click here.

To read important trademark and copyright information,
click here.