Check-Out My Skills (self-assessment)

Source: Training Development Resources/Problem Solving — "Check-Out My Skills"

A youth-voiced self-assessment across two skill clusters: communication/social skills (understanding others, expressing feelings, reading tone and facial expression, making conversation) and self-regulation/executive skills (calming down, controlling worry, thinking straight when frustrated, handling change or new situations, thinking of more than one solution, keeping perspective on how big a problem really is). Framed explicitly around strengths rather than deficits — "it is legit not possible to have every one of these as a strength" — and positioned as a tool to help supportive adults (coaches, teachers, therapists) target support more precisely, not as a pass/fail test.

Choice Point Model & Consulting the Future Self

Source: Training Development Resources/Problem Solving — two Positive Psychology Toolkit graphics

The Choice Point model maps a challenging situation against two directions: "away" moves (driven by "hooks" — the thoughts/feelings pulling someone away from who they want to be) versus "towards" moves (supported by "helpers"). Useful as a quick visual for naming, in the moment, whether a young person's next move is pulling them toward or away from their own goals.

Consulting the Future Self is a decision-making tool built on the research distinction between experienced regret (after a choice turns out badly) and anticipated regret (imagining in advance how a choice will feel later). Practically: before a decision, ask "how will my future self feel about this choice?" — the classic example is imagining post-dessert regret before eating the dessert. Useful for coaching around impulsive decisions where the short-term reward is clear but the young person hasn't yet considered the future self who has to live with it.

The 5 Why's Tool

Source: Training Development Resources/Problem Solving — "The 5 Why's Tool" (youth-voiced worksheet)

Root-cause analysis for a recurring problem: keep asking "but why?" of your own answer, roughly five times, until you hit something that's actually fixable. The worked example: late to school → wake up too late → tired from staying up late → that's when I talk to friends → don't have time to socialize otherwise → don't feel comfortable asking friends to hang out during the day. The real fix isn't a new alarm clock, it's addressing the social-comfort issue underneath. Good tool for when a young person (or a coach) is stuck cycling through surface-level fixes that keep not working.

Plan B Organizer (Collaborative & Proactive Solutions)

Source: Training Development Resources/Problem Solving — "Plan B Organizer," part of Ross Greene's Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) model

A structured script for solving a recurring problem with a young person rather than for them, in three ingredients: Empathize (open with a neutral, non-accusatory description of the problem and ask "what's up?" / "what's going on?", then gather information with curiosity, not assumptions, until you genuinely understand their concern); Share (state your own concern briefly and specifically — health, safety, learning, or impact on others — framed as "and" rather than "but," so both concerns sit side by side instead of competing); Collaborate (invite solutions from them first, generate options together, and test each candidate solution against both sets of concerns and whether it's actually realistic). Ends with agreeing on a plan and a specific time to revisit whether it's working.

Assessment of Lagging Skills & Unsolved Problems (ALSUP)

Source: Training Development Resources/Problem Solving — ALSUP 2020 (Ross Greene / Lives in the Balance) — companion tool to Plan B above, and to the standalone "Lagging Skills Handout.pdf" found loose in the Training Development Resources root folder

Reframes "problem behavior" as the product of lagging skills, not defiance — the core CPS philosophy is "kids do well if they can," not "kids do well if they want to." The ALSUP is meant as a discussion guide (not a checklist to score), covering skill gaps like difficulty handling transitions, difficulty considering consequences before acting, difficulty with flexible/gray-area thinking, difficulty reading social cues, and chronic irritability/anxiety that overwhelms problem-solving capacity. Crucially: you don't teach the lagging skill directly or discuss it with the young person — you use it to understand why a specific expectation is hard for them, then use Plan B above to solve the specific unsolved problem itself.

My Roadmap: Needs, Obstacles, Solutions

Source: Training Development Resources/Problem Solving — "My Roadmap" (two versions/formats of the same tool)

The same in-my-control / within-my-influence / out-of-my-control framework documented in Spheres_of_Influence.md, reformatted here as a goal-planning "roadmap": what I want, my "why," the sabotaging thoughts/beliefs and circumstances holding me back, and what I can actually change or do within my control. Confirms this framework is used in more than one place in the curriculum — worth treating as a core, reusable tool rather than a one-off worksheet.

Thinking Skills Inventory (self-report and observer-rated versions)

Source: Training Development Resources/Problem Solving — "Thinking Skills Inventory for Youth & Young Adults" (TSI-YYA, self-report) and "Thinking Skills Inventory" (TSI-RS, observer-rated, v.10.2014)

Two versions of the same underlying framework, both organizing executive/social-cognitive skills into five domains: A — Attention & Working Memory (staying focused, remembering steps/directions, tracking time); B — Language & Communication (expressing feelings and thoughts in words, understanding what others are communicating); C — Emotion & Self-Regulation (settling down when activated, regulating energy level, managing worry/frustration/disappointment, pausing before acting); D — Cognitive Flexibility (handling new/unexpected situations or changed plans, switching tasks, generating more than one solution, not over-personalizing or catastrophizing); E — Social Thinking (reading facial expressions and tone, sensing how you're perceived, starting conversations, empathizing with others' perspectives).

The youth self-report version (TSI-YYA) uses a simple 0-1-2 (Never/Rarely, Sometimes, Often/Always) scale per item, with a scoring chart to visualize which of the five domains is relatively hardest for that individual. The observer-rated version (TSI-RS), designed for a parent, teacher, or clinician, uses a 5-point strength-to-difficulty scale per specific behavioral marker (e.g., "handles transitions, shifts easily from one task to another," "avoids over-generalizing or personalizing," "empathizes with others, appreciates others' perspectives"). Framed explicitly as a discussion and skill-identification tool rather than a diagnostic instrument — pairs naturally with the ALSUP and Plan B tools above: once a lagging domain is identified, Plan B's collaborative process is the mechanism for actually addressing it, rather than trying to lecture or drill the skill directly.