This chapter discusses the major mental health disorders experienced by older adults, identifies the most effective counseling approaches and psychotropic medications used to address the mental health needs of older adults, and provides an overview of best practice counseling and treatment interventions used to address the mental health needs of older adults. In an overview of the literature regarding major depression and dysthymia, Zalaquett and Stens examined the effectiveness of four commonly used individual therapies for treating older adult depression: cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), interpersonal therapy (IPT), brief dynamic therapy (BDT), and reminiscence therapy (RT) and life review (LR) therapy. Counselors can develop brief checklists to assist clients in tracking their symptoms. Counselors should also educate themselves about the signs of excessive alcohol and substance abuse, noting that some medical conditions may have similar symptoms to drug or alcohol abuse.

The practice of administering personality tests has become a significant role and function of many professional counselors. This chapter summarizes key information that can be found in many professional references and graduate texts. Personality assessments are best conducted as a part of an overall psychological assessment. Personality functioning cannot be validly assessed in isolation of cognitive, intellectual, or social functioning. Each domain contributes to the functioning of the individual as a whole and informs the others. The assessment process comprises multiple steps that include clarifying the nature of the referral question; selecting appropriate tests; test administration; test scoring and interpretation; integrating test findings; and compiling the psychological report. Personality inventories can be defined as psychological measures that comprise a number of items concerning personal characteristics, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The interpretation of personality test results is dependent on a variety of considerations.

This chapter serves as an introduction to prescribed psychiatric drugs for children and adolescents. It covers the most common disorders that require medication for children and adolescents as well as symptoms that are targeted and medication side effects. Anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental disorders and are often chronic, treatment resistant, and associated with considerable morbidity. The chapter explores the most common Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5-related psychiatric disorders children and adolescents experience as well as the most common medications used. Counselors of all disciplines can benefit from understanding not only the types of medications being prescribed but also the behaviors and cognitive thought processes believed to be treated. Counseling strategies were briefly addressed; however, counselors are encouraged to seek more in-depth information on each of these conditions and the best strategies in assisting this population.

Positive psychology is the scientific study of what goes right in life, from birth to death. It is the study of optimal experience, people being their best and doing their best. Positive psychology is a newly christened approach within psychology that takes seriously as a subject matter those things that make life most worth living. Positive psychology assumes that life entails more than avoiding or undoing problems and that explanations of the good life must do more than reverse accounts of problems. Positive psychology challenges the assumptions of the disease model. Psychologists interested in promoting human potential need to start with different assumptions and to pose different questions from their peers who assume only a disease model. Positive psychology can be criticized for being value laden, a charge that applies to all approaches to helping professions.

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) is a classification system published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) provides an etiological classification of health conditions related to mortality and morbidity, while the ICF provides a functional complement to the diagnosis-based ICD. The use of the ICF is important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the prevalence of people with disabilities throughout the world. People with disabilities constitute one of the largest minority groups in the United States. The managed care industry has caused health professionals to be more outcome focused in their reports to third-party payers, rather than reporting only traditional diagnostic information. The medical model of disability guided early efforts to describe causes of mortality and morbidity, and has been relatively effective for detection and treatment of acute health problems.

The specialization of forensic expert testimony in mental health has traditionally been precluded for counselors and dominated primarily by psychologists and psychiatrists. This chapter focuses on the applicable laws related to providing expert testimony and their impact on how counselors must prepare and present their findings in court. It outlines legal definitions and differences in deposing or discovery testimony versus trial testimony. Knowing the order and relevant issues involved at each procedural step becomes important regarding testimony preparation. A practical look at the specific skills counselors should have in order to effectively work in the forensic field is discussed next as well as specific strategies in preparing for and testifying in a courtroom. The growing need for forensic mental health evaluators plays a significant role in scientifically and methodologically providing the court with valuable knowledge in helping to render more informed decisions.

This chapter specifically focuses on violence in the nation’s schools by providing: an overview of youth violence including risk and protective factors, assessment items for preventing violence, and suggestions of intervention/prevention strategies for reducing youth violence and its impact. The professionals involved with the aftermath of violence have specific roles related to severity assessment and determining clinical needs. Counselors should gather information from multiple sources on multiple issues as no one personality profile for a violent youth or target exists. Focusing on behaviors and placing those behaviors in a social-ecological context provides the clearest understanding of potential risk and directs treatment options and modalities. The success of violence prevention programs though can never be perfect. Violence will sometimes still occur, leaving students to deal with the physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and spiritual consequences.

This chapter focuses on the specific skills and techniques required for working with individuals in a group setting. Our approach to group leading is an active, theory-driven, multisensory approach where the leader is actively involved in directing the personal work with an individual. One of the most difficult group leadership skills to master is the ability to work with an individual while keeping the other members engaged and involved. When leading any kind of growth, support, counseling, or therapy group, members will often bring up a concern that needs immediate and concentrated attention. Theory-driven group counseling is always more effective than when no theory is utilized. The process of including all group members takes great skill, much thought, and a lot of practice on the part of any group leader.

Family members often have different definitions of what is the problem or who has the problem. Thus, the counselor must first discover the underlying issue that has caused this family to seek treatment. Understanding a family’s presenting issue is paramount to accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. Counselors develop these case conceptualizations through informal and formal assessments of the family. Fortunately, there are numerous assessments of family functioning to be used for clinical purposes with an individual, entire family, or a subsystem of a family. Family techniques can serve as informal family assessments. Data can be collected through family play therapy, family sculpting, and genograms. Finally, counselors need to share the results in an appropriate and ethical manner with the family and any other third-party stakeholder as indicated by the family. For instance, some agencies may use family assessments to make critical decisions about family treatment and even child custody.

Family counseling offers a valuable alternative or addition to addressing individual client concerns. In the age of managed care, producing rapid results is both desired and necessitated by third-party reimbursement requirements, and family counseling fits well within this paradigm. Family counseling tends to be short term and solution focused, where specific, attainable treatment goals are set for a definite end point. Families may benefit more from intervals of brief problem-focused counseling, as opposed to long-term continuous counseling. Family counseling should then be tailored to resolve a particular issue in a limited time frame. Family systems describe communication as a regulatory process, whereby family members’ verbal and nonverbal communications bidirectionally influence the system. In order for this family counseling to be successful, counselors must build rapport with and engage all family members.