Help Your Child or Teen Get Back on Track: What Parents and Professionals Can Do for Childhood Emotional and Behavioral Problems »

Introduction     13
Is this book for you?     13
How to use this book     14
What's in this book?     14
Why I wrote this book     16
A brief consultation     17
What I mean by "back on track"     20
Parents' Interventions     23
What to Do When You Think Your Child Has a Problem     25
Organization of Chapter 1     26
Questions and answers     27
I think my child is having a problem. Now what?     27
How do I know if my child's behavior and emotions are serious problems?     29
What simple guidelines will help me begin to understand the seriousness of my child's troubles?     31
How else can I distinguish between normal development and disorder/disruption?     33
What challenges in the "job" of growing up can result in emotional and behavioral distress?     34
What changes/stressors might make my child's "job" of growing up more difficult?     35
What if I've seen no sudden changes in my child, but am concerned in general about the type of person he is "becoming"'?     39
What if I'm so angry, frazzled, or scared that I want my child to "just stop it"?     40
What if I cannot talk with my daughter and she won't talk with me?     41
OnceI think I understand my child, is it better to do something or say something to help her?     42
What if I understand my child's problems, but do not know how to make the changes needed?     43
Can punishment lead to positive changes in my child and promote new ways of learning to cope?     43
I want to get professional help for my son, but my husband thinks he is "just being a boy" and that I'm making too much of it. What should I do?     45
If I do seek a professional consultation, does that mean my child will go on medication and be in treatment for a long time?     45
What if I'm waiting for an appointment with a specialist, but I am worried about my child's safety and mine?     46
Reference     46
The Red Flags: An Alphabetical List of Symptoms     47
Contents     47
Organization of Chapter 2     49
The symptoms     50
Disruptions in Development: The Whole Child     92
Organization of Chapter 3     93
The importance of a developmental perspective     93
Infants and toddlers     96
Disruption of bodily routine (eating, sleeping, and elimination)     96
Disruption of relationships (attachment)     97
Disruption of emotional modulation (mood, arousal, and anxiety)     98
Preschoolers      99
Disruption of bodily routine (eating, sleeping, and elimination)     99
Disruption of bodily activity (movement)     101
Disruption of emotional modulation (mood, arousal, and anxiety)     102
Disruption of relationships (attachment)     103
School-aged children: 6-12     105
Disruption of bodily routine (eating, sleeping, and elimination)     105
Disruption of bodily activity (movement)     106
Disruption of emotional modulation (mood, arousal, and anxiety)     107
Disruption of relationships (attachment)     109
Disruption of relationships (social custom)     111
Disruption of information processing (learning)     112
Adolescents     114
Disruption of bodily routine (eating, sleeping, and elimination)     114
Disruption of bodily activity (movement)     116
Disruption of emotional modulation (mood, arousal, and anxiety)     117
Disruption of relationships (attachment and sexual behavior)     120
Disruption of relationships (social custom)     121
Disruption of information processing (learning)     123
Disruption of information processing (thinking)     123
Ten Steps to Help Your Child Get Back on Track     126
Organization of Chapter 4     126
The steps     127
Do remind your child that you are both on the same side     127
Do provide limits and reasonable expectations     128
Do make sure your child has regular routines     130
Do give your child encouragement     132
Do help your child to confront fear     133
Do Not try to predict your child's future     135
Do learn to see and appreciate small improvements and positive changes     137
Do Not let intense emotions dominate your interactions with your child     138
Do remember that your child is not you     139
Do take care of your own physical and emotional needs     141
Coping with Your Feelings When Your Child Suffers     144
Organization of Chapter 5     145
Your own painful emotions     145
Guilt     145
Shame     146
Fear     147
Anger     148
Sadness     149
Parents' serenity prayer     151
Professionals' Interventions     155
Changes in child mental health treatment in recent years     155
Evaluation and Testing: Why, What, Who, and Where?     159
Organization of Chapter 6      160
Why was the evaluation or testing requested?     160
What is involved in evaluation and testing?     161
Psychological tests     163
Non-psychological tests     178
Who does the testing and who wants the information?     181
Who does the testing?     181
Who wants the information?     182
Where is the evaluation done?     183
A clinical example     184
Questions about Treatment: Who Are the Helpers and Where Are They?     187
Organization of Chapter 7     187
Before you seek professional help     188
Who are the helpers?     189
Pediatrician/family physician     189
Child psychiatrist     190
Clinical psychologist     190
Neuropsychologist     190
Clinical social worker     191
Family therapist     191
Mental health counselor     192
School adjustment counselor     192
Where are the treatments?     193
Outpatient services     193
Inpatient services     194
Emergency/crisis services     196
Psychotherapy and Its Side Effects     198
Organization of Chapter 8      198
Psychological treatment     199
Individual psychotherapy     199
Non-individual psychotherapy     204
Choosing a therapist     205
Psychotherapy: frequently asked questions     206
Psychotherapy and side effects     210
Medications and Their Side Effects     212
Organization of Chapter 9     212
How medications/chemicals affect behavior     213
General guidelines for using medication with children     214
Side effects in general     216
Medications in children and side effects     217
Medications, and the side effects of medications for mental health problems     218
Inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and distractibility     219
Depression     222
Bipolar disorder and severe mood instability     225
Anxiety     229
Psychosis, severe mood disorder, severe anxiety, severe aggression, severe agitation, and Tourette's syndrome     234
Medications for other specific disorders or symptoms     235
Pharmacotherapy: frequently asked questions     237
Who is the best person to provide medication treatment for my child, and why?     237
How do I decide to have my child take medication? Does my child take medication with, or instead of, psychotherapy?     237
How do I tell whether the medication is helping?     238
How long will pharmacotherapy last?     238
Will medication continue without psychotherapy?     239
Conclusion     240
Complementary and Alternative Therapies and Their Side Effects     241
Organization of Chapter 10     241
The why, when, and what of alternative treatments     241
Herbal treatment     243
Vitamin and dietary treatments     246
Meditation and relaxation techniques     248
Neurofeedback     249
Sensory/motor integration therapy     251
References     252
The Role of Play in Individual Psychotherapy from Childhood to Adolescence     254
Organization of Chapter 11     254
Play     255
A theory of psychotherapy     256
The complexity underlying feeling, thinking, and behavior     256
The storage and organization of experience: memory     257
Changes in memory: learning     257
Learning and psychotherapy     258
A discussion of psychodynamic theory, psychotherapy, and play     258
Psychodynamic theories of the mind      259
A theory of psychodynamic psychotherapy     261
Psychodynamic psychotherapy and play     263
Practical aspects of play therapy     265
Parents and play therapy     268
Costs of Treatment: Money, Energy, and Time     270
Organization of Chapter 12     270
Your financial costs for treatment     270
The financial costs of psychotherapy     271
The financial costs of medications     272
Your energy and time costs in treatment     274
Costs for non-treatment: personal and community perspectives     275
Personal costs of non-treatment     275
Society's costs of non-treatment     276
Self-Help Resources     278
General books on parenting     278
Specific problem/symptom focused books     279
Other books on children's mental health problems     281
Meditation/relaxation CDs for children and adolescents     281
Magazines     281
Internet     281
Topic focused groups     282
Index     284