Children With Multiple Mental Health Challenges

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"...[T]his book provides valuable information on taking care of children with complex mental health challenges. Chapters present information in tabular format, which makes the book easy to use in practice. The case vignettes are practical and helpful in understanding a child as a unique case and not just a diagnosis. The list of the most valid and reliable screening and assessment tools is valuable, as is the information on useful websites. The book also clearly provides up-to-date, basic information on neurobiology and genetics, as well as ongoing research in the field."--Doody's Medical Reviews Mental health practitioners who work with children are often confronted with complex, difficult-to-treat mental health issues that do not respond to conventional methods of psychotherapy. These children have a web of multiple impairments that are comprised not just of emotional and behavioral issues, but also learning and other cognitive disorders.Children With Multiple Mental Health Challenges presents an innovative, evidence-based approach to understanding and treating this difficult population that integrates the child's development and functioning into diagnosis and treatment. It does not rely on diagnostic categories alone, but explores the functioning of children in several dimensions of development and considers multiple levels of influence. The book builds on an individualized, integrated approach to present a variety of evidence-based strategies for working with children with multiple challenges. It considers children from preschool age to adolescence with a number of severe difficulties. These may include extreme aggression, oppositional defiant behavior, significant anxiety and depression, cognitive and academic challenges, delays in speech and language, problems with attention and concentration, sensory integration problems, and unresolved trauma. The treatment strategies included can be used by various specialists within the intervention team, as well as by parents and teachers. Key Features: Presents an innovative approach to working with children with multiple disorders, often the most challenging cases for clinicians Moves beyond standard "recipes" for treatment planning to encompass developmental (including social and biological factors) and functional aspects of working with children Includes case studies as well as detailed treatment plans Offers treatment strategies that can be used by the intervention team, teachers and parents

Drawing on her own experiences and those of other parents, plus tips from mental health professionals, Vlock suggests ways of parenting smarter, partnering better, and living more fully and less fearfully in the shadow of childhood psychiatric illness. Offers overwhelmed readers guidance, solidarity, and hope.

Mental, neurological, and substance use disorders are common, highly disabling, and associated with significant premature mortality. The impact of these disorders on the social and economic well-being of individuals, families, and societies is large, growing, and underestimated. Despite this burden, these disorders have been systematically neglected, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, with pitifully small contributions to scaling up cost-effective prevention and treatment strategies. Systematically compiling the substantial existing knowledge to address this inequity is the central goal of this volume. This evidence-base can help policy makers in resource-constrained settings as they prioritize programs and interventions to address these disorders.

This book contains both personal narratives and chapters written by clinicians and practitioners. Issues covered include the genetics of mental illness; talking with children to allay anxiety and give age- appropriate information; assessment of children in crisis; the value of peer support activities; the needs of children placed in out-of-home care; cultural considerations in understanding mental illness; and how our mental health care can fail the children of parents with mental illness. [Back cover, ed].

With rapidly rising rates of mental health disorders, changing patterns of occurrence, and increasing levels of morbidity, the need for a better understanding of the developmental origins and influence of mental health on children’s behavioral health outcomes has become critical. This need for better understanding extends to both the growing prevalence of mental health disorders as well as the role and impact of neurodevelopmental pathways in their onset and expression. Addressing these changes in disease patterns and effects on children and families will require a multifaceted approach that goes beyond simply making changes to clinical care or adding personnel to the health services system. New policies, financing, and implementation can put established best practices and numerous research findings from around the country into action. The Maternal and Child Health Life Course Intervention Research Network and the Forum for Children's Well-Being at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine jointly organized a webinar series to explore how mental health disorders develop over the life course, with a special emphasis on prenatal, early, middle, and later childhood development. This series centered on identifying gaps in our knowledge, exploring possible new strategies for using existing data to enhance understanding of the developmental origins of mental disorders, reviewing potential approaches to prevention and optimization, and proposing new ways of framing how to understand, address, and prevent these disorders from a life course development perspective. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the series.

On 20 November 2009, the global community celebrates the 20th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the unique document that sets international standards for the care, treatment and protection of all individuals below age 18. To celebrate this landmark, the United Nations Children's Fund is dedicating a special edition of its flagship report The State of the World's Children to examining the Convention's evolution, progress achieved on child rights, challenges remaining, and actions to be taken to ensure that its promise becomes a reality for all children.