Description of the Strategy

Problem solving (often referred to as “social problem solving,” to emphasize that such activities occur in social or interpersonal contexts) is the cognitive-behavioral process by which a person attempts to identify or discover effective or adaptive solutions for stressful problems encountered during the course of everyday living. Problem-solving therapy (PST) provides for systematic training to help individuals cope more effectively with such stressful events by teaching them to apply a variety of skills geared to help them either (a) alter the nature of the problem (i.e., problem-focused goals, such as overcoming obstacles to a goal), (b) change their distressing reactions to the problem (i.e., emotion-focused goals, such as accepting that a problem cannot be changed), or (c) both.

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