Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

This book is for youth workers, social workers, mental health staff, specialist teachers, family support workers, and so on, whose clients present with comorbidity, risk, and difficulty accessing mainstream services. It describes inevitably stressful, unsettling work, providing effective help in complex helping systems. An innovative response emerges, building on adaptive (evidence-based) mentalization-based theory and practice. Uniquely, AMBIT applies mentalizing not only directly, in work with clients, but also in work: (a) with the team, (b) with wider (often “dis-integrated”) networks, and (c) creating cultures of learning and radical transparency. AMBIT is as much an improvement system for teams as a “therapy”—strengthening team identity and coherence, and supporting a wider community of practice. Linking evidence-based practice to practice-based evidence, the book concludes with impact descriptions from some of the nearly 200 AMBIT-trained teams, a client’s perspective, and a challenging analysis of systems of care pointing toward the need to create more mentalizing systems.Less

Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Clinical Handbook is an edited volume that summarizes the current state of the research concerning adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This is important, as the research indicates that young adults have low rates of attendance in post-secondary education, of being competitively employed, and of living independently. Traditionally, the field of autism has focused on early screening, diagnosis, and intervention. The poor outcomes indicate that individuals with ASD experience lifelong struggles, and few other books have focused on adolescents and young adults with ASD. Experts from a multitude of disciplines serving this population have written chapters that summarize the research in their area of expertise and offer practical suggestions for clinicians, teachers, and parents. Each chapter provides a bullet-point abstract, a list of additional resources, and study questions. These features are designed to make it useful for college-level instructors. In addition, each chapter provides suggestions for future research, which are designed to move the field forward.Less

Children and adolescents in the general population and in clinical populations reveal surprisingly high rates of playing with fire or actual firesetting behavior. A single fire has the potential to cause a cascade of serious consequences to the child, family, and the community, some of which may continue forever. Yet, there is limited practical information and advice based on available empirical evidence to help programs or practitioners work effectively with children or adolescents who misuse fire, and their families. This book provides practical guidelines designed to facilitate the clinical assessment and treatment of youthful firesetting behavior based on nearly four decades of research and intervention experience with this population. The topics covered in this book address several important content areas. Initial chapters provide an overview of the significance of the problem, and some lessons learned based on case control, clinical trial, and real-world implementation projects. Recommendations for using screening and assessment measures that evaluate firesetting and general psychosocial issues are included. Several intervention methods are outlined for use with children, caregivers, and families. These methods encompass fire safety education materials and several cognitive-behavioral treatment skills-training procedures that focus on understanding of the fire, affect regulation and self-control, parenting practices, and home-based management programs. The book also includes suggestions to promote professional and program development which reflect on various educational, ethical, legal, collaborative, and community safety considerations. The book’s content is intended to help a diverse array of practitioners understand and target the context in which the misuse of fire occurs.Less

There are many challenges to be faced in contemporary society including the stresses of everyday living in the technological age and changes in patterns of employment and family life. Depression is being experienced in ‘epidemic’ proportions in many Western communities, and in particular amongst young people. The search for effective ways to reverse this trend has resulted in a significant shift in psychological approach from a focus on helplessness and pathology to a more positive orientation that emphasises health and well-being. This volume brings together leading researchers in the field of stress and coping to consider ways in which coping research contributes to our understanding of how people in different sectors of life meet goals and challenges. It provides a synthesis of different but compatible theoretical models that have been developed in the field of stress and coping and provides a way forward beyond the traditional stress and coping paradigms. The emergent model is able to be used to assess a wide range of issues in the stress and coping domain.Less

This book provides an overview of research on the prevalence, dynamics, and impact of child sexual abuse (CSA), as well as factors that influence youth recovery. The history, development, and numerous treatment outcome studies evaluating the efficacy of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), an evidence-based treatment model designed for this population, are described. This includes a clinical overview outlining the theories, principles, values, and components associated with this model and suggestions for addressing complex trauma responses, developmental, and cultural considerations. Screening, engagement, and assessment strategies, as well as general guidelines for using this practical treatment guide are also outlined. The chapters that follow outline practical steps for engaging nonoffending caregivers and youth facing the crisis of CSA in separate individual parent and child sessions as well as conjoint sessions. The acronym PRACTICE outlines the TF-CBT treatment components which include Psychoeducation and parenting, Relaxation, Affect expression and modulation skills, Cognitive coping, Trauma narrative and processing, In vivo mastery, Conjoint sessions, and Enhancing safety and future development. TF-CBT session activities that may be used to implement each of the treatment components are described via clinical descriptions, case examples, and therapist-client dialogues. General suggestions for planning and celebrating the end of therapy are provided. Special considerations and guidelines for addressing sexual behavior problems and difficulties associated with experiencing commercial sexual exploitation are offered. The appendix includes a glossary of terms, useful therapist forms, and valuable client handouts that provide psychoeducation, as well as guidelines for practicing skills between sessions.Less

The book is intended for professionals and researchers involved in education and intervention with children and youth who have autism spectrum disorder. As an edited volume, the book features chapters that address assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation among the ASD population. Specifically, the book looks at recent developments in service delivery, including innovations of established practices as well as emerging strategies and methods that have proven promising. The chapters examine the research literature, discuss procedural implications, and make recommendations for future practice and inquiry.Less

This online resource provides a practical guide for implementing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for children and their families coping with the consequences of persisting pain. It is divided into three sections. The first section presents a brief history, theoretical foundations, and background concerning the development of CBT interventions for children with chronic pain conditions and summarizes research results on the efficacy of CBT. The second section covers assessment and evaluation approaches, patient education, and how to structure and sequence CBT interventions with children and families. The final section describes in detail each cognitive-behavioral intervention, including relaxation and cognitive skills and interventions directed at parents, sleep problems, physical activity, and school functioning. Extensive suggested dialogue and detailed instructions and forms are included, and accompanying appendices provide user-friendly therapist training materials for successful application of clinical techniques to children and families.Less

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has shown to be effective in the treatment of childhood OCD. This online Therapist Guide outlines a 12-session CBT-based treatment for OCD that benefits not only children and adolescents, but their families as well. Each session incorporates a family therapy component in addition to individual treatment for the child. It is a combined approach program that educates the child and family about OCD in order to reduce negative feelings of guilt and blame and to normalise family functioning. It also provides guidelines for conducting both imaginal and in vivo exposures, which are techniques at the core of helping children reduce their anxiety. For use with children ages 8 to 17, this online resource is an indispensable tool for clinicians helping children and their families cope with OCD.Less

Volume 9, 1969–1971, introduced by the Swedish training analyst and former president of the Swedish Society, Arne Jemstedt, contains a selection of letters from the last years of Winnicott’s life. The work includes further developments of his work on envy, the use of an object, psychosomatics, the impact of the mother’s unconscious, living creatively, communication, adolescence and rebellion and the final version of transitional objects and transitional phenomena. There are also topical pieces on the moon landing, the contraceptive pill and the building of the Berlin Wall. The volume includes Winnicott’s introduction to Playing and Reality (his most successful book), published in 1971 after his death. Finally, this volume includes a section of various short notes and ideas which could not be reliably dated.Less

Volume 5, introduced by Jennifer and Marcus Johns, covers the years 1955–1959, an extremely productive period of Winnicott’s work in broadcasting, social work, child psychiatry and psychoanalysis. His two Tavistock publications, The Child and the Family, and The Child and the Outside World; and his first collection of essays, Through Paediatrics to Psychoanalysis, were published during this time. In 1955 he married Clare Britton, with whom he had been working during the previous decade, and in 1956 he became President of the British Psychoanalytical Society. It was in this capacity that many of the large number of letters in this volume were composed, relating to the work of his analytical colleagues and the integration of the different training and theoretical groups within the BPAS.Included in this volume are important papers covering diverse areas of Winnicott’s work, including ‘The Anti-social Tendency’, ‘Primary Maternal Preoccupation’, ‘The Mother’s Contribution to Society’, ‘The Capacity to be Alone’, and responses to Klein’s 1957 book Envy and Gratitude.Less