PSY/110 Week 4: Problem-Solving Worksheet, sample paper

Two and a Half Uncovered Hours: Working Through an After-School Care Problem Step by Step, From the First Panic to a Decision With Criteria, and What It Taught Me About Stress

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

PSY/110: Psychology of Learning

Week 4 Problem-Solving Worksheet

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The student is a composite written for a model worksheet.

On Monday, my son's after-school program sent a letter: it will close at the end of October because the church that hosts it is selling the building. I work until 3:30 p.m. on most days, and his school lets out at 3. The program covered those hours and gave me until 5:30 on the days I stayed late. My first reaction was not problem solving at all; it was a tight chest, a racing mind and the thought that I would have to drop out of school. This worksheet walks the problem through each stage of the problem-solving process from this week's reading.

Step 1: My Orientation Toward the Problem

D'Zurilla and Goldfried (1971) described problem solving as a set of stages, and the first is the attitude a person brings: seeing a problem as a normal part of life that can be solved, rather than as a disaster. My first attitude was the second kind. According to Lazarus and Folkman (1984), stress depends on two judgments: whether a situation threatens something important, and whether we have the resources to cope with it. I judged the threat as severe, my son's safety and my degree, and my resources as poor.

What changed my appraisal was writing down my resources: $3,000 in savings, a sister ten minutes away, a supervisor who has been flexible and six weeks before the program closes. With that list, the problem looked serious but manageable.

Step 2: Defining the Problem

My first definition was "I have no child care," which is too vague to solve. The precise version: starting November 3, I need safe, reliable care for my son from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, costing no more than $90 a week, near either his school or my work, and that leaves my evenings free for study.

Writing the definition this way turned one frightening problem into specific requirements I could check options against.

Step 3: Generating Alternatives

Following the rule of deferring judgment, I listed every option I could think of before evaluating any of them.

1. The school district's after-school program at his own school.

2. A licensed home day care near the school.

3. My sister taking him every day.

4. My sister two days a week and a paid option three days.

5. Changing my work hours to 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day.

6. A college student as a paid sitter.

7. Trading pick-ups with another parent from his class.

8. Dropping to part-time work.

Two of these, the district program and the parent trade, I would not have thought of if I had stopped at the first idea.

Step 4: Making a Decision

I judged each serious option against five criteria: cost, reliability, my son's well-being, effect on my work and effect on my study time.

The district program costs $75 a week, is reliable and keeps him at his own school with friends, but it has a waiting list.

Home day care costs about $110 a week, over budget, and requires a drive.

My sister every day is free but unfair to her and would strain our relationship.

Changing my hours to 6:30 a.m. every day would get me to the school by 3:15, but my supervisor can approve it only on Thursdays.

Dropping to part time would solve the problem and create a larger one, since it cuts the income my security depends on.

The best combination is the district program as the main plan, my sister on Tuesdays and Thursdays until a spot opens and the parent trade as a backup on the days I run late.

Step 5: Acting and Checking

Actions this week: apply for the district program Tuesday and ask where we stand on the waiting list; confirm Tuesdays and Thursdays with my sister and offer to cook for her family on Sundays; ask the parent of my son's best friend about trading two pick-ups a week.

Check date: November 14, two weeks after the change. If my son is picked up on time every day and I still have four study nights a week, the plan works. If not, I will return to the list in Step 3.

What This Taught Me About Stress

Lazarus and Folkman (1984) distinguish between problem-focused coping, which changes the situation, and emotion-focused coping, which manages the feelings it causes. Both have a place. On Monday night I needed emotion-focused coping first: a walk, and a call with my sister, before I could think clearly. Then problem-focused coping took over.

The process itself also reduced my stress. Bell and D'Zurilla (2009), combining studies of problem-solving therapy, found that it reduced depression, and that programs that trained a positive orientation toward problems along with the problem-solving steps worked better than those that taught the steps alone. That matches my experience: the steps helped, but changing how I looked at the problem came first.

Summary

A closing after-school program first felt like a reason to leave school. Working through the stages turned it into a defined problem with eight possible solutions, a decision made against five criteria and a plan with a date to check it. The most useful step was the first one: listing my resources changed how threatening the problem felt, and that made the rest possible.

References

Bell, A. C., & D'Zurilla, T. J. (2009). Problem-solving therapy for depression: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(4), 348-353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.02.003

D'Zurilla, T. J., & Goldfried, M. R. (1971). Problem solving and behavior modification. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 78(1), 107-126. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0031360

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer.