Starting Treatment With Children and Adolescents provides therapists with a time-tested framework for treatment and a moment-by-moment guide to the first few sessions with a new patient. In twelve remarkable case studies, verbatim transcripts of individual play-therapy sessions are brought to life through running commentary on techniques and theory and a fine-grained analysis of what worked, what didn’t, and what else the clinician could have done to make the session as productive as possible. Clinicians will come away from the book with a unique window into how other therapists actually work as well as new tools for engaging children and adolescents in process-oriented treatment. They’ll also be guided through an exploration of common questions such as how else could I have handled that situation? What other paths could I have tried? Where might those other paths have led? What treatment strategies are most advantageous to my patients’ growth – and to my own?

Presenting a fresh approach to child and adolescent therapy, this book identifies five principles at the heart of the most potent evidence-based treatments--and shows how to apply them. Clinicians learn efficient, engaging ways to teach the skills of Feeling Calm, Increasing Motivation, Repairing Thoughts, Solving Problems, and Trying the Opposite (FIRST) to 5- to 15-year-olds and their parents. FIRST principles can be used flexibly and strategically in treatment of problems including anxiety, posttraumatic stress, depression, and misconduct. In a convenient large-size format, the book features 37 reproducible parent handouts, decision trees, and other clinical tools. Purchasers get access to a companion website where they can download and print these materials, plus Spanish-language versions of selected parent handouts.

This is a pioneering book about the use of ECT in adolescents who are diagnosed with severe, disabling psychiatric disorders or fail conventional treatment. Included are a review of the literature, firsthand experience of the authors and case descriptions making it an invaluable guide to treatment.

In this book, a clinical scientist highlights youth psychotherapies that have been tested and shown to work. Treatments for fears and anxiety, depression, attention deficits and ADHD, and conduct problems and disorder are described in detail, their conceptual basis explained, their clinical application illustrated by richly developed case examples, and their prospects for use in clinical practice examined closely. This clinical perspective is complemented by summaries and critiques of the empirical evidence on each treatment and by commentaries on what questions remain unanswered. The author's clinical and scientific experience converge to produce a uniquely valuable experience on exemplary treatments for children and adolescents.

Weaving practical, hands-on ideas with theory and research about child development, child treatment, and the therapeutic relationship, this book describes an innovative approach to treatment of children and adolescents who won't or can't respond to traditional, conversation-based therapy. For these children, therapists need an entirely new clinical language, one that doesn't depend on words. Within an interpersonal and developmental framework, Straus spells out the deceptively simple goals of no-talk therapy: someone to be close to, and something to be proud of. Through empathy and respect, games, activities, community involvement, a circle of adults, and little pleasures, this approach begins to provide these anxious, sullen, enraged, and confused kids with the self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-awareness to develop a voice of their own.

A guide to treating mental health issues in children and adolescents Diagnosis and Treatment of Children and Adolescents: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals is a resource tailored to the particular needs of current and future counselors, behavioral healthcare clinicians, and other helping professionals working with this vulnerable population. With in-depth content broken into two sections, this book first provides a foundation in the diagnostic process by covering the underlying principles of diagnosis and treatment planning, and then applies this framework to the DSM-5 categories related to children and adolescents. With research continually reshaping our understanding of mental health, it is critical mental health professionals make decisions based on evidence-based pathways that include the specialized research around children and adolescents. The leading experts who contributed to this book share contemporary perspectives on developmental considerations, assessment information, presenting symptoms, comorbidity, levels of severity, prevalence data, and other relevant factors. Structured content of chapters provides a crosswalk between the DSM-5 and this book Updated content based upon the changes, additions, and revisions to the DSM-5 that affect diagnosis, assessment, and treatment Pedagogical features, such as learning objectives, case studies, guided practice exercises, and additional resources, to support effective learning Diagnosis and Treatment of Children and Adolescents: A Guide for Clinical and School Settings is a critical resource for mental health practitioners and graduate students working toward a career in a mental health profession.

Designed for mental health professionals treating children and adolescents, Brain-Based Therapy with Children and Adolescents: Evidence-Based Treatment for Everyday Practice is a simple but powerful primer for understanding and successfully implementing the most critical elements of neuroscience into an evidence-based mental health practice. Written for counselors, social workers, psychologists, and graduate students, this new treatment approach focuses on the most common disorders facing children and adolescents, taking into account the uniqueness of each client, while preserving the requirements of standardized care under evidence-based practice.

Featuring a wealth of clinical examples, this book facilitates implementation of Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) in a range of contexts. It demonstrates how assessment strategies and treatment components can be tailored to optimally serve clients' needs while maintaining overall fidelity to the TF-CBT model. Coverage includes ways to overcome barriers to implementation in residential settings, foster placements, and low-resource countries. Contributors also describe how to use play to creatively engage kids of different ages, and present TF-CBT applications for adolescents with complex trauma, children with developmental challenges, military families struggling with the stresses of deployment, and Latino and Native American children. See also Cohen et al.'s authoritative TF-CBT manual, Treating Trauma and Traumatic Grief in Children and Adolescents, Second Edition.

Showcasing approaches as creative and playful as young clients themselves, the book presents therapy as a dialogue of discovery. Through transcripts and compelling case examples, contributors illuminate how drama, art, play, and humor can be used effectively to engage with children of different ages, and to honor their idiosyncratic language, knowledge, and perspective.

In this comprehensive resource, Liana Lowenstein has compiled an impressive collection of techniques from experienced practitioners. Interventions are outlined for engaging, assessing, and treating children of all ages and their families. Activities address a range of issues including, Feelings Expression, Social Skills, Self-Esteem, and Termination. A "must have" for mental health professionals seeking to add creative interventions to their repertoire.