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This book focuses on the application of behaviour genetic approaches to twin studies, and reviews diagnostic to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the relationships between reading, spelling and ADHD, and family and genetic influences on speech and speech and language.

Pediatric irritability, defined as increased proneness to anger relative to peers, is among the most common reasons for mental health referrals. The past fifteen years have witnessed a dramatic rise in the empirical study of pediatric irritability with the goal of developing more effective methods of assessing and treating these impaired youth. Irritability in Pediatric Psychopathology offers a comprehensive overview of this work, approaching the topic from multiple perspectives and disciplines including child psychiatry, clinical psychology, developmental psychology, and neuroscience. Offering five sections composed of chapters written by international experts, the book begins be defining pediatric irritability, reviewing its prevalence, current assessment methods, and novel behavioral and psychophysiological indicators. The second section reviews the literature on the development of pediatric irritability from preschool age through adolescence and young adulthood. The third section summarizes the current evidence for genetic and neurobiological factors contributing to pediatric irritability, while the fourth reviews its presentation transdiagnostically across mood and anxiety disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, and autism. Finally, the book concludes with a presentation of evidence-based psychological and pharmacological interventions. Irritability in Pediatric Psychopathology is an essential resource for researchers, clinicians, and trainees working with children and adolescents.

This book examines the long term impact of service reform in children's mental health, focusing on comprehensive state and local initiatives to improve care for children with serious behavioral health and their families to illustrate how programmatic and contextual forces influence policy and practice in this area, and inform readers about strategies employed by policy makers, administrators and advocates to develop and sustain effective systems of care. This book looks at Virginia's effort to reform care for at-risk youth, as well as the transformational initiatives of six states and several localities. Using a comprehensive ecological framework, the authors focus on a statewide transformation of services for children/youth with serious emotional and behavioral challenges to enhance understanding of the course and consequences of system change efforts over an extended period of time. Attention is given to the impact of this reform on individual children and families, and local communities as well as the Commonwealth. Using data from states'and localities'efforts to develop comprehensive systems of care for children and families, this book enhances understanding of the dynamics of large-scale human service reform efforts. It describes how political, economic, social, cultural, and technological forces have shaped policy and practice, offer lessons learned from these ambitious reform initiatives, and provide guidance for those interested in improving care for vulnerable children and their families.This book examines the long-term impact of reform legislation, employing a multi-modal approach to enrich understanding of this ambitious reform effort. Examples are provided to illustrate how CSA and other systems of care have impacted individual children and families as well as the interplay of local community dynamics and macro level policy and political processes. This book also offers the first-hand perspectives of individual consumers and families, child advocates, community based program providers, and local and state wide administrators and policymakers. By combining these multiple perspectives the authors provide a comprehensive perspective on the issues of child mental health services and related reform efforts.

In Stories from Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy author Henry Kronengold explores the unpredictable world of child and adolescent psychotherapy through a series of engaging and innovative clinical vignettes. The ups, downs, and dilemmas of therapeutic work are considered in each realistic narrative as readers are offered a unique view of what happens between the therapist and child, as well as the therapist's own process during the therapy. This captivating new resource is intended to spark a conversation within the reader, regardless of professional experience, regarding which therapeutic factors are ultimately most helpful to children and adolescents.

This book explains how studies in brain development and epigenetics—the inextricable interplay of genes and environments—have led to breakthroughs in the understanding of children's psychological disturbances and serve to discredit the scientifically unsupported'chemical imbalance theory'of mental illness.Intended for mental health practitioners, concerned parents, and child advocates alike, this book presents a powerful new paradigm for understanding the causes of children's psychological disturbances—and as a result, the proper treatment of these symptoms. Based in cutting-edge research on the developing brain and epigenetics, this important volume serves to inform readers about the latest scientific conclusions and clinical practices that need to supplant pervasive and often dangerous drug prescriptions to millions of children.Sharna Olfman, PhD, and contributors including leading researchers, clinicians, and childhood advocates present their research findings and explain the implications for treatment of a range of symptoms, including autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), concussion syndromes, and mood disorders. The book definitively lays to rest the'chemical imbalance theory'of mental illness, a theory that has been roundly discredited by the scientific community but kept alive by the pharmaceutical industry. Chapters focus on the real science of epigenetics and the sensitivity of the developing brain to environmental influences such as trauma and chemical toxins—legitimate research findings that are largely ignored by mental health practitioners and rarely influence practice.

A unique companion to professional play practice! All play professionals are united in their belief that play is important for children's development – and there are inherent characteristics of play that underpin professional play practice across contexts. Providing an overarching concept of play, drawing together the evidence base across disciplines and linking theory to practice, The Essence of Play is the ideal handbook for all those working with children. Play acts as a natural resource for children to meet physical, intellectual and emotional challenges and this book, unusually, considers play from the perspectives of children rather than adults. It provides a baseline of shared knowledge for all play professionals, exploring the fundamental value of play rather than a ‘how to'approach to practice. It considers: the therapeutic potential inherent in play; how play reflects and promotes physical, emotional, intellectual, linguistic and social abilities; the emergence of different types of play skills and why these are important; cross-cultural patterns in play, gender, atypicality and adversity, highlighting the relevance of these issues to professional play practice; the benefits of utilising play for assessment and other professional practice issues such as ethical play practice, balancing risk with health and safety and the creation and management of boundaries. This text is designed for students and practitioners working with children across the helping professions, including early years education, play therapy, playwork, childcare, social care, nursing and allied health. Each chapter provides directed reading and small reflective tasks to encourage readers to digest key issues.

This collection of transcripts from sessions by certified Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapists gives therapists, educators, and child welfare and residential treatment professionals a detailed understanding of how Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy is used to help children who have a history of neglect, abuse, orphanage care, or other experiences that may interfere with the normal development of attachment between parent and child. The book begins with a description of DDP, its essential components, and the ways in which those components are used differentially in different phases of treatment. The transcripts that follow illustrate those components and their uses. They cover a diverse range of clients and families so that the reader can appreciate the depth and breadth of DDP. Both the editor and the therapists themselves provide analysis and commentary on the therapists'goals, impressions, and techniques. This book complements the treatment manual Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy: Essential Methods and Practices, and will be useful in graduate courses on treatment, child welfare, family therapy, and child psychology.

In this volume, Elena Garralda and Jean-Philippe Raynaud aim to contribute to advancing awareness of child and adolescent mental health within an international framework that gives special consideration to problems arising in different contexts around the world and through expert views supported by empirical evidence and considering clinical implications. There is increasing recognition worldwide of the importance of child and adolescent mental health problems, of the distress and impairment they can cause to children and their families, and of the markedly adverse effects on education and on adult psychiatric adjustment when left untreated. Globally, however, services to attend to these problems in children are uneven and patchy. There is a need to advance awareness of child and adolescent mental health and of factors that influence them. Chapters address the effects on child mental health of issues ranging from secular changes in family composition in both western and eastern countries, rapid industrialization, poverty, deprivation, and adoption, to refugee status and aboriginal life. It considers emerging issues, such as cyber addiction, PTSD, ADHD across different cultures, and the autistic'epidemic.'They discuss new service developments (Eastern Europe, paediatric liaison services) in the context of traditional methods (traditional Chinese medicine).

When children lose someone they love, they lose part of their very identity. Life, as they knew it, will never be quite the same. The world that once felt dependable and safe may suddenly seem a frightening, uncertain place, where nobody understands what they're feeling. In this deeply sympathetic book, Phyllis R. Silverman and Madelyn Kelly offer wise guidance on virtually every aspect of childhood loss, from living with someone who's dying to preparing the funeral; from explaining death to a two year old to managing the moods of a grieving teenager; from dealing with people who don't understand to learning how and where to get help from friends, therapists, and bereavement groups; from developing a new sense of self to continuing a relationship with the person who died. Throughout, the authors advocate an open, honest approach, suggesting that our instinctive desire to'protect'children from the reality of death may be more harmful than helpful.'Children want you to acknowledge what is happening, to help them understand it,'the authors suggest.'In this way, they learn to trust their own ability to make sense out of what they see.'Drawing on groundbreaking research into what bereaved children are really experiencing, and quoting real conversations with parents and children who have walked that road, the book allows readers to see what others have learned from mourning and surviving the death of a loved one. In a culture where grief is so often invisible and misunderstood, the wisdom derived from such first-hand experience is invaluable. Filled with compassion and common sense, A Parent's Guide to Raising Grieving Children: Rebuilding Your Family after the Loss of a Loved One offers readers a wealth of solace and sound advice, and even--where one might least expect it--a measure of hope.

Behavioral-developmental pediatrician Lawrence Diller continues his investigation into the widespread use of psychiatric drugs for children in America, an investigation that began with his first book, Running on Ritalin. In this work at hand, Diller delves more deeply into the factors that drive the epidemic of children's psychiatric disorders and medication use today, questioning why these medications are being sought, and why Americans use more of these drugs with children than is used in any other country in the world.There is relentless pressure for performance and success on children as young as three, Diller acknowledges, but his analysis goes further, and his conclusion is both surprising and ironic. In the name of preserving children's self esteem, American society has become intolerant of minor differences in children's behavior and performance. We worry so much about how our children feel about themselves that struggles once within the realm of normal are now considered abnormal - indicative of a psychiatric or brain disorder, requiring diagnosis and treatment wth psychiatric drugs, often for years. The Last Normal Child also addresses the role of drug companies in the advertising and promotion of both disorders and drugs. The pharmaceutical industry has garnered incredible profits and power in influencing the way we view children today. Diller illustrates through vivid and poignant stories of real patients, how he, together with families, make informed decisions about using psychiatric drugs for children. Parents, educators, pediatric and mental health professionals will gain valuable insights, tips and tools for navigating what has become a truly perilous trip of childhood for children in America today.