The 5Ps Model: a helpful way to understand and resolve problems

Do you have a process for understanding and resolving problems when they arise? In this post, we’ll explore a model I use which helps get a fuller picture of what’s going on, and informs what can help. It’s the 5Ps model.

If you’d like to try this model with a problem you are facing into, this blog provides an overview of the model, explores each of the 5 elements in more detail, and includes examples for applying it to work through real life problems. 

‘The 5Ps model of case conceptualisation’ is one model counsellors use when working with problems their clients want to address. It is often easier for someone looking from the outside to populate this model, or ask questions which reveal insights into the problem and ways to resolve it.

The 5Ps is a simple and helpful way of exploring what is going on in relation to an issue, and a tool we can use to assess and understand an issue, and guide the work needed to resolve or manage it.

Some of my counselling clients find it helpful for me to share the 5P’s, and go through it together after their first couple of sessions. Doing so allows for reflection and for new insights to emerge. The client will often develop greater appreciation and compassion towards themselves, through seeing the broader factors contributing to the issue they are facing. Clients report how remarkable it is when they discover blind spots they have had in relation to an issue. While these missing pieces to the puzzle get brought into the light through the reflections that come with working with a counsellor or therapist, the 5P’s is a good place to start on your own, and you can then reach out to a professional to help you progress further.

The 5 P’s model

The 5Ps is primarily an assessment and conceptualisation tool. This means it provides an assessment of what is going on, and forms an understanding of the client’s presenting issue, with their history and current circumstances (conceptualisation). From this, a plan for working with the client is developed, based on their issue and their unique life experience. 

The 5Ps in this model refer to:

Presenting Problem – the primary problem you’re seeking support with.
Precipitating Factors – what prompted you to reach out to tend to this issue now.
Perpetuating Factors – what is keeping the problem going; or fuelling it.
Predisposing factors – what do you know about yourself that makes you more likely to have this problem?
Protective factors – what in your life helps you in managing this problem and being able to make a change in relation to it. You could think of this section as your strengths and resources.

As a counsellor and therapist I find this framework a useful start in conceptualising what’s going on for my client, on the page. It shapes both our conversation in a counselling session and the work we do together, informing where to focus, and promoting the strengths and resources that will support the client in working with the areas they wish to change or heal.

Exploring each of the elements of this framework in more detail:

1. Presenting Problem:
In this model the first 'P' represents the ‘Presenting Problem’. This is the specific challenge or issue which brings you to making a counselling appointment. It’s the entryway to our discussion and the point at which your concerns reach a level where you recognised you need support.

2. Precipitating Factors:
The second 'P' addresses the ’Precipitating Factors’. These are the events that have preceded this problem occurring, or situations that have led to the problem reaching a level of needing to be addressed. 

By understanding what precipitated you seeking help, you can appreciate what it takes for you to seek help and be on the front foot in the future. This part of the model also helps with making sense of why this has become something that needs to be tended to.

3. Perpetuating Factors:
'Perpetuating Factors' are the elements that maintain or exacerbate the presenting problem over time. This box is usually a big one. It includes patterns of behaviour, thoughts, or emotions that fuel the issue. It can include external influences that contribute to its persistence; for example, the environment you are living or working in. Recognising these factors is the foundation for creating effective strategies to make changes. As there are often many of these, they need to be prioritised based on the level of impact they are having and the relative level of simplicity or difficulty to change.

4. Predisposing Factors:
'Predisposing Factors' offer a historical context from which you are living your life. These factors have been around for quite a while, usually from childhood, and are the factors that find the person more susceptible to this particular issue becoming a problem in their life. This could be many things, including personal tendencies, personality, family dynamics, modelled behaviour, past experiences in formative years, or later in life. These factors are unique for everyone and provide strong clues about the most helpful areas to talk about, and any corrective emotional experience we can facilitate in sessions to reduce the impact of the current problem. 

Predisposing factors offer hints into the root cause of the challenges you’re facing.

5. Protective Factors:
The final 'P' is 'Protective Factors'. These are the internal and external resources and strengths that contribute to your resilience and ability to manage and function. Here we identify your strengths, support systems, and coping mechanisms. Protective factors are important as they offer ideas on what is going to be supportive in working towards the change, healing, or personal growth you are seeking.

Working through the 5Ps of a problem is a useful way to explore not only the presenting problem but also some of the key factors contributing to and perpetuating the challenges it brings you. By addressing predisposing factors and perpetuating factors, while encouraging protective factors, we can create a holistic plan tailored to you and your unique situation and needs.

This tool can be used for your own self-reflection on an issue, or in seeking support with a professional who is able to reflect what they hear back to you so you can see it in a different light and gain more clarity on what is going on for you.

Using the 5P’s
Here’s how you can apply the 5P’s to navigate and gain insights into the issues you want help with.

Presenting Problem: What is the most prominent Issue I’m having right now?

Example: Presenting Problem – Anxiety – worrying each day and feeling restless and not able to concentrate

Precipitating Factors: Explore Triggers and Events

Are there any events or triggers that might have sparked your anxiety to be front of mind at the moment? It could be a recent, or specific incident, that led you to wanting to work on this now.

Example: Precipitating Factors - Work Pressure – a tightened deadline along with some redundancies at work

Perpetuating Factors: Identify Persistent Patterns

Are there patterns, behaviours, environments, times of day, or situations that are maintaining or worsening your anxiety over time? 

Example: Perpetuating Factors – Avoidance - avoiding work-related tasks, isolating from colleagues, and procrastinating due to fear of failure.

Predisposing Factors: Observing Historical Elements

What do I know about myself and my family that may have predisposed me to experiencing significant anxiety. Understanding these historical elements helps to validate what you’re experiencing and normalises that, ‘no wonder this is difficult for me’.

Example: Predisposing Factors - Childhood Experiences - growing up in an environment with high expectations and not being able to express emotions and fears. Fears were not taken seriously and my emotional experience was ignored.

Protective Factors: Recognising Strengths and Resources

Write down all the internal and external resources that contribute to you being able to function, or function reasonably well, in life. These protective factors form the foundation for building coping mechanisms and strategies while working with any deeper issues you’d like to explore.

Example: Protective Factors - Supportive Relationships – my family and friends would do anything for me. Help seeking – I do reach out for support when I’m not managing as well as I usually do.

I hope you like this model and can see its benefits in both understanding your problem and exploring what can help. 

Looking at your issue in this structured way can provide useful insights to inform a roadmap (or treatment plan in counselling terms) for change, healing and growth. 

Note: As a counsellor, the treatment plan is not held in stone. It is simply a hypothesis of what is expected to help based on what is known. This is a dynamic element of therapy which is reviewed and updated as the work of therapy takes place. 

It really is about finding what is most helpful for you, the unique client. It is not about using a single approach to support each client. In this way my work is person centred (it is all about you, I’m not the expert in your life), and client specific (every client is an individual, who operates within a different family and social, and professional system with its own cultural elements).

If you’d like to work with me, Nicky, in 2024, please do reach out. We can work together on an individualised approach to your needs, with strategies that suit your goals and your lifestyle. 

Book a complimentary 10-minute consultation to find out more.