Given the human costs of psychological trauma, social workers should be well versed in trauma-informed care (TIC). This framework helps guide the efforts of systems, organizations, and practitioners toward reducing trauma or mitigating its effects. The field has created TIC principles, although they have yet to be fully realized as practical…

Despite increasing awareness, the childhood disorder of selective mutism is under-researched and commonly misdiagnosed. The purpose of this article is to highlight current issues related to this disorder as well as describe various treatment approaches including behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, family, and pharmacological…

Objective: The authors provide examples for the use of the WebCam as a therapeutic tool in child psychiatry, discussing cases to demonstrate the application of the WebCam, which is most often used in psychiatry training programs during resident supervision and for case presentations. Method: Six cases illustrate the use of the WebCam in individual…

Cultural sensitivity and cultural competence in the selection of culturally sensitive treatments is a requisite for effective counseling practice in working with diverse clients and their families, particularly when clients present with health issues or medical problems. Described here is a strategy for selecting culturally sensitive treatments…

Substance misuse is one of the most prevalent causes of adolescent injury and death. Additionally, 5-8% of adolescents in the U.S. qualify for a diagnosis of substance abuse disorder. This article discusses formal prevention and treatment program models, focusing on a continuum of care which extends from prevention to treatment alternatives.…

Developers of evidence-based therapies are enhancing methods of teaching therapists to implement "best practices" with integrity. However, there is a relative dearth of information available as to clinic operations and related contextual factors necessary to sustain successful implementation of these treatments. This article describes various…

Care managers, including nurses and social workers, often lack information that would help them more effectively target services to caregivers' needs. Useful information includes the type of services that will be most helpful for caregivers and the best time to start using these services. Generally, caregivers are simply told what services they…

Significant progress has been achieved in the development and evaluation of evidence-based psychological treatments for eating disorders over the past 25 years. Cognitive behavioral therapy is currently the treatment of choice for bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder, and existing evidence supports the use of a specific form of family therapy…

Over the past 30 years, research in the area of applied behaviour analysis has led to a rich knowledge and understanding of the variables that influence human behaviour. This understanding and knowledge has given rise to a range of assessment and intervention techniques that have been applied to individuals with challenging behaviour.…

The Portsmouth, New Hampshire, project for adolescents, known as the KIDS Program (Kids In Difficult Situations), is a regional program emphasizing family intervention. KIDS has attempted to mainstream 30 emotionally handicapped adolescents into all regular academic and vocational high school courses. Individual, group, and family counseling are…

The Reciprocity Family Counseling Method involves learning principles of behavior modification including selective reinforcement, behavioral contracting, self-correction, and over-correction. Selective reinforcement refers to the recognition and modification of parent/child responses and reinforcers. Parents and children are asked to identify…

Presents the history, philosophy, and form of training at the Ackerman Institute for Family Therapy, and attempts to capture the spirit and atmosphere of the program rather than enumerate details. The program teaches family therapy and a systems perspective on human behavior to professionals who have completed basic professional training. (Author)

This article highlights the inclusion of Mode Deactivation Therapy as a treatment modality for families in crisis. As an empirically validated treatment, Mode Deactivation Therapy has been effective in treating a wide variety of psychological issues. Mode Deactivation Therapy, (MDT) was developed to treat adolescents with disorders of conduct…

This case is about a 6-year-old boy, Bobby, who during an apparently successful kindergarten year suddenly began to have great difficulty attending school. The boy had a definite aversion to school unless at least one of his parents was present and even then he had much trepidation over entering his kindergarten classroom. The situation had both…

Describes programs for family counseling which use psychological-educational and skills training methods to remediate individual and family problems or enhance family life. The six articles discuss client-centered skills training, behavioral approaches, cognitive behavioral marital therapy, Adlerian parent education, and couple communication. (JAC)