Providing Mental Health Servies To Youth Where They Are

Barriers to community mental health centers (such as stigma, waiting lists) prevent youth from receiving necessary services. Providing Mental Health Services to Youth Where They Are, identifies the reform that is needed in children's mental health service. As the issues of systems of mental health care have received increased attention, so has the recognition of the benefits of providing services to youth where they are: that is, in natural settings, such as home or school. Principles to include in systems of mental health care for youth are as equally important as actually reaching the youth: involvement of families, school staff, community leaders, and clergy. The development of programs are matched to the developmental, cultural, and other needs of youth in a community so they mesh with existing services. This book describes how these principles play out in school-, home-, and community-based mental health programs for youth.

The author investigates the provision of mental health services to children and teenagers, considering particularly how schools and communities can help.

Young people experience one of the highest rates of mental health problems of any group, but make the least use of the support available to them. To reach young people in distress, we need to understand what this digital generation want from mental health professionals and services. Based on interviews with nearly 400 young people, this book offers a vision of youth mental health issues and services through the eyes of young people themselves. It offers professionals important insights into the meaning of identity and agency for this generation and explores how these issues play out in young people’s expectations of mental health support. It shows how, despite young people’s immersion in digital technology, genuine and trusting relationships remain a key ingredient in their priorities for support. It considers what access to mental health support means for a generation who have grown up with the immediacy enabled by digital technology. Young people’s accounts also provide crucial insights into how they are using digital resources to manage their own mental health – in ways often not appreciated by professionals who design internet interventions. What Young People Want From Mental Health Services offers clear guidance to counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists, youth workers, social workers, service providers and policymakers about how to work with youth and design their services so they are a better match for young people today. It contributes to a growing movement calling for a ‘Youth Informed Approach’ to mental health to address the needs of young people.

Specifically designed to meet professional practice needs, Introduction to Mental Health for Child and Youth Care encourages practitioners to participate fully in integrated mental health teams; knowledgeably advocate for accessible and quality care; and understand mental health from different perspectives, including Indigenous wellness, attachment theory, resilience, trauma-informed care, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The first half examines the practitioner’s role in mental health care, Indigenous perspectives on wellness and cultural safety, the epidemiology of mental disorders, the brain and its functions, the ascertainment of diagnoses, and suicide intervention. The second half explores symptoms and interventions of various disorders common in child and adolescent populations, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, feeding and eating disorders, psychotic disorders, and autism spectrum disorders. Additionally, the text features links to additional readings and online videos, questions for reflection, and activities. Recognizing the importance of mental health literacy in the child and youth care field, this pedagogically rich and practical resource is essential for students and practitioners in child and youth care as well as human services and social work.

“This is an incredibly useful and timely resource for those studying and working in the field of youth mental health.” Sara Evans-Lacko, PhD, Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK “’Understanding Youth Mental Health’ covers the full spectrum of what is needed. ‘Understanding Youth Mental Health’ is a welcome and important building block.” Patrick McGorry, Professor of Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia, Executive Director, Orygen: National Centre for Youth Mental Health “This practical textbook, with contributions from established international experts, provides a comprehensive guide to contemporary theory, research and practice in youth mental health.” Dr Louise Doyle, Associate Professor in Mental Health Nursing, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Understanding Youth Mental Health offers a new and comprehensive approach to youth mental health that highlights the significance of development during adolescence and early adulthood. The book centres on the experiences of young people as service users, drawing attention to the distinctive challenges being faced in the 21st century and emphasising the importance of supporting young people’s well-being and improving mental health literacy. In a succinct and practical way, Understanding Youth Mental Health: •Introduces students to a new conceptual model for understanding young people’s mental health •Incorporates chapters on the key features of new model services in Australia, Ireland and the UK including youth engagement, input from families and service design •Provides comprehensive epidemiological data on mental disorders and a clear focus on the importance of early intervention in psychosis •Includes chapters from leading academics working in the area of youth mental health, augmented with short accounts of personal experiences from young people and their families Written by world-leading experts from eight countries with diverse research and clinical experience, Understanding Youth Mental Health draws on findings from around the globe and equips readers with the information required to develop as researchers and practitioners with a view to improving service provision in a range of contexts. Ideal for those embarking on careers or study in this field, the book provides key learnings from theory and practice which can be deployed and developed within your own service provision. Eilis Hennessy is a Professor of Developmental Psychology in University College Dublin, Ireland. Caroline Heary is an Associate Professor in Developmental Psychology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Maria Michail is a Marie Curie Global Fellow and an Associate Professor in the Institute for Mental Health, University of Birmingham, UK.

Over the course of the last two decades, improved practices in child and adolescent mental healthcare have led to a decreased environment of stigma, which also led to an increased identification and treatment of mental health disorders in children and youth. Considering that treatment and outcomes are improved with early intervention, this is good news. However, the success gained in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry leads to a new challenge: transitioning from adolescent care to adult care. It has been known for some time that children, adult, and geriatric patients all have unique needs where it comes to mental healthcare, yet limited work has been done where it comes to the shifting of the lifespan. Where it comes to the child-adult transition—defined as those in their late teens and early/mid-20s—there can be multiple barriers in seeking mental healthcare that stem from age-appropriate developmental approaches as well as include systems of care needs. Apart from increasing childhood intervention, the problem is exacerbated by the changing social dynamics: more youths are attending college rather than diving straight into the workforce, but for various reasons these youths can be more dependent on their parents more than previous generations. Technology has improved the daily lives of many, but it has also created a new layer of complications in the mental health world. The quality and amount of access to care between those with a certain level of privilege and those who do not have this privilege is sharp, creating more complicating factors for people in this age range. Such societal change has unfolded so rapidly that training programs have not had an opportunity to catch up, which has created a crisis for care. Efforts to modernize the approach to this unique age group are still young, and so no resource exists for any clinicians at any phase in their career. This book aims to serve as the first concise guide to fill this gap in the literature. The book will be edited by two leading figures in transition age youth, both of whom are at institutions that have been at the forefront of this clinical work and research. This proposed mid-sized guide is therefore intended to be a collaborative effort, written primarily by child and adolescent psychiatrists, and also with adult psychiatrists. The aim is to discuss the developmental presentation of many common mental health diagnoses and topics in chapters, with each chapter containing clinically-relevant “bullet points” and/or salient features that receiving providers, who are generally, adult-trained, should keep in mind when continuing mental health treatment from the child and adolescent system. Chapters will cover a wide range of challenges that are unique to transition-age youths, including their unique developmental needs, anxiety, mood, and personality disorders at the interface of this development, trauma and adjustment disorders, special populations, and a wide range of other topics. Each chapter will begin with a clinical pearl about each topic before delving into the specifics.

This book highlights the field of youth mental health and why it is a specialty distinct from both child and adolescent and adult mental health. Youth Mental Health: Approaches to Emerging Mental Ill-Health in Young People examines issues such as mental health literacy, e-Health, family, psychological, vocational and pharmacological interventions. The authors also discuss issues that are particularly pertinent to young people, such as suicidality, substance abuse, gender identity and sexuality, attention deficit disorder and eating disorders. Taking a preventative focus, this book presents evidence for youth mental health as an important and growing field, makes the case for the reform of existing service structures to better serve this group and outlines the latest specialised approaches to treatment. Drawing on the knowledge and expertise of leading thinkers in youth mental health, this book is instrumental for mental health professionals who wish to design new specialised mental health systems for young people.