Coping Power Program

Domain II · Behavioural & cognitive · Lochman, Wells, Lenhart · 2008

What it is

Coping Power is a manualised cognitive-behavioural group programme with an integrated child component and parent component, run in schools or clinics. It grew out of Lochman's earlier Anger Coping Program by adding goal setting, study and organisational skills, peer-pressure and peer-group content,…

Format

• Child component: 34 group sessions (Blueprints: 22 in the first school year, usually 5th grade, and 12 in the second, usually 6th grade), over about 15–18 months; it can be compressed into one school year. Sessions are usually weekly, 40–60 minutes (school period), groups of 4–6 children (CEBC) or…
• Individual child sessions: brief, regular one-to-one contacts (about 30 minutes, roughly every two months in the trial version; in the child-only study about 1.4 per month) to generalise skills, tailor goals and problem solving, and build the bond with the leaders.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Facilitators: master's or doctoral level clinicians (psychology, counselling, social work); school counsellors are common facilitators; unlicensed facilitators are supervised.
• Sessions not drawn on: 2, 4–9, 11, 12, 17–18, 20–24, 26, 28–31 and 33. Where this guide places organisational and study skills, awareness of feelings, the distraction and provocation tasks, relaxation, video work and refusal skills, the placement comes from registries and training material, not from the manual's session titles.
• Phase 3: Perspective taking and social problem solving (about sessions 12–22; perspective taking verified at sessions 13–15, problem solving with PICC at sessions 15–19). Goals: perspective taking and attribution retraining as a multi-session unit, moving from exercises on others' intentions to interpersonal problems and other people's perceptions; then social problem solving with the PICC model (Problem…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• global labels; too many targets.
• rules that differ between caregivers.
• reading demands; read tasks aloud for weak readers.
• escalation; parents using threats they don't carry out.
• performance anxiety; role plays drifting into real conflict.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.