This chapter discusses comprehensive school crisis interventions, identifies the characteristics that define a crisis, finds ways to assess for the level of traumatic impact, and determines what interventions can be provided to help with response and recovery. It highlights the PREPaRE Model of crisis prevention and intervention. There are six general categories of crises: acts of war and/or terrorism; violent and/or unexpected deaths; threatened death and/or injury; human-caused disasters; natural disasters; and severe illness or injury. Children are a vulnerable population and in the absence of quality crisis interventions, there can be negative short- and long-term implications on learning, cognitive development, and mental health. Evidence-based interventions focusing on physical and psychological safety may be implemented to prevent a crisis from occurring or mitigate the traumatic impact of a crisis event by building resiliency in students. Crisis risk factors are variables that predict whether a person becomes a psychological trauma victim.

Depression is a chronic, recurring disorder that impacts children’s academic, interpersonal, and family functioning. The heritability of major depressive disorder (MDD) is likely to be in the range of 31% to 42%. This chapter begins with a brief overview of the etiology of depression. It presents a description of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention designed to be delivered in a group format, an individual interpersonal intervention, and an individual behavioral activation (BA) intervention that includes a great deal of parental involvement. The ACTION program is a manualized program that is based on a cognitive behavioral model of depression. There are four primary treatment components to ACTION: affective education, coping skills training (BA), problem-solving training, and cognitive restructuring. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of universal therapeutic techniques to be incorporated into work with depressed youth regardless of the therapeutic orientation or treatment strategy.

Divorce is a lengthy developmental process and, in the case of children and adolescents, one that can encompass most of their young lives. This chapter explores the experience of divorce from the perspective of the children, reviews the evidence base and empirical support for interventions. It provides examples of three evidence-based intervention programs, namely, Children in Between, Children of Divorce Intervention Program (CODIP), and New Beginnings, appropriate for use with children, adolescents, and their parents. Promoting protective factors and limiting risk factors during childhood and adolescence can prevent many mental, emotional, and behavioral problems and disorders during those years and into adulthood. The Children in Between program is listed on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. The CODIP and the New Beginnings program are also listed on the SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices.

Children and youth with serious emotional, behavioral, and social difficulties present challenges for teachers, parents, and peers. Youth who are at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are particularly vulnerable in the areas of peer and adult social relationships. The emphasis on meeting academic standards and outcomes for children and youth in schools has unfortunately pushed the topic of social-emotional development to the proverbial back burner. This chapter emphasizes that social skills might be considered academic enablers because these positive social behaviors predict short-term and long-term academic achievement. Evidence-based practices are employed with the goal of preventing or ameliorating the effects of disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) in children and youth. An important distinction in designing and delivering social skills interventions (SSI) is differentiating between different types of social skills deficits. Social skills deficits may be either acquisition deficits or performance deficits.

Eating disorders (EDs) are a complex and comparatively dangerous set of mental disorders that deeply affect the quality of life and well-being of the child or adolescent who is struggling with this problem as well as those who love and care for him or her. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) outlines specific criteria for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED), and other specified feeding or ED. Treatment of eating disordered behavior typically involves a three-facet approach: medical assessment and monitoring, nutritional counseling, and psychological and behavioral treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) are also evidence-based approaches to treatment for AN. The treatment of EDs should be viewed as a team effort that integrates medical, nutritional, and mental health service providers.

Asthma, a pulmonary condition, is a chronic respiratory disorder typified by persistent underlying inflammation of tissues, airway obstruction, congestion, hyperresponsive airways, and the narrowing of smooth airway muscle. Asthma is one of the most common chronic medical conditions in children and is the leading cause of school absenteeism. This chapter describes childhood asthma, including its causes and triggers. It elucidates the extant research supporting treatment of the disorder and provides step-by-step empirically based interventions to ameliorate asthmatic symptomatology in children. The psychological underpinnings of asthma have been investigated in the field of psycho-neuroimmunology (PNI), which examines the interplay of the central nervous system, neuroendocrine, and immune system with psychological variables and their relation to physical health. Researchers have shown that relaxation and guided imagery (RGI), written emotional expression, yoga, and mindfulness therapy improve pulmonary lung functioning, decrease rates of absenteeism, and improve overall quality of life.

This chapter reviews the empirical support for such a multifaceted approach by considering selected neurodevelopmental concerns and medical variables that present as obstacles to healthy neurodevelopment. It discusses select neuro-developmental prenatal complications that can be prevented or ameliorated through behavioral interventions with the pregnant mother. The chapter addresses the deleterious effects of legal substances on the developing fetus, but professionals should be vigilant about preventing or reducing intrauterine exposure to illicit substances as well. Tobacco is a legal substance that, when used during pregnancy, has the potential to harm both the mother and fetus. Of particular concern with tobacco use are the detrimental health risks, such as hypertension and diabetes, which adversely affect the cerebrovascular functioning of pregnant women. The process of neurodevelopment is complex and represents a dynamic interplay among genetics, behavior, demographics, the environment, psychosocial factors, and myriad physiological factors.

An individual’s identity development, including his or her preferred gender identity, is a lifelong process, which starts with the earliest interactions with the world. The concepts of gender identity have been explored, studied, debated, and discussed for decades and are currently going through a resurgence of examination, especially in Western cultures. This chapter provides an overview of gender identity development, beginning with an explanation of terms, followed by an exploration of theoretical perspectives which includes cognitive developmental theory, social learning theory, gender schema theory and feminist theory. Topics include current research and perspectives on how gender identity evolves in children and recent shifts in understanding atypical gender identities, including transgender, gender neutral, and gender fluid identification. Finally, implications and strategies for mental health professionals are discussed, especially related to counseling those who are experiencing conflict or distress surrounding issues of gender and gender identity.

This chapter focuses on office automation and systems that are useful in the mental health field, along with principles to be aware of when considering the use or purchase of such systems. Most managers have to rely on input from outside in order to form an opinion about how to resolve complex issues. The complexity of the issue increases significantly when the current federal health care laws are incorporated into the task of choosing appropriate clinical information management software. The significance of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) would seem to dictate at least a brief foray into its content because it lays the foundation for virtually everything that is happening in the clinical information management (CIM) realm. The information provided in the chapter can give a backdrop by which current practices can be examined for goodness of fit with the available client information management systems.

Many developmental models view human growth from a space of lack or abundance, a perpetual fulcrum swinging from the word survive at one end to thrive at the other. This chapter discusses Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development to conceptualize female adolescent and young adult development. The contextual focus of this theory provides a global framework for counselors to view young women as individuals who both influence, and are influenced by, their surroundings. Customs, beliefs, and the government all play a role in the development of children and adolescents. When young females overcome the stigma associated with mental health services, they typically seek treatment in one of two primary settings: community mental health centers and schools. Relational-cultural theory (RCT) is an evolving feminist model of human development that views connection to others as essential to growth and disconnection as a major cause of disrupted functioning.

The learning landscape continues to evolve as new technological tools enable teachers to deliver robust learning experiences. It is important to help teachers, administrators, and students know where to begin so that the transition to virtual learning is smooth, without educational loss. This chapter consists of two sections: current trends and issues in technology integration and technological pedagogical content knowledge. The first section briefly reviews the trends in instructional or educational technologies that are causing administrators, teachers, and students to reflect on and modify their thinking about learning and educational content delivery. The second section explores constructivism, the scientific underpinnings of nursing informatics, and ethics. Nurse educators must also address the ethical challenges brought about by this evolving learning landscape. After reading this chapter, one can understand current trends and issues, as well as the influence of nursing informatics and ways to approach new ethical dilemmas.

Healthcare is in a state of rapid change. Although practice environments have become more complex, educational delivery methods have remained stagnant. Innovative technologies provide opportunities to enhance nursing student learning and help nursing programs become more responsive to changes in the practice environment; however, obstacles may hinder successful implementation. With the increasing complexity of today’s health care environment, innovations in nursing curricula are necessary. This chapter explores some of the general challenges associated with the integration of innovative educational technologies, as well as some challenges unique to virtual simulation. It helps the reader to analyze the challenges of integrating educational technologies into nursing education associated with faculty, administrators, and students. It also helps the reader to examine practical and philosophical barriers related to technology integration and explores challenges unique to the adoption of virtual simulation.

Simulation has many advantages for nursing education, some of which include creating safe learning environments for students and reinforcing information learned in the classroom; it also has the advantage of being available in inclement weather as well as 24 hours a day for student access. Simulation in nursing is one of many methods used for teaching students. Teaching and learning in a virtual learning environment has many advantages for administrators, faculty, and students. One of the advantages includes the use of other disciplines to help create or participate in a virtual world learning experience. The virtual learning environment can be created to look similar to real communities, disaster areas, or homes, with avatars populating that environment. The advantage to using virtual reality, rather than a real-life experience, is that in real life, students could be immersed in an environment that could cause them harm.

Child psychotherapy requires case conceptualization through the lens of developmental psychology in a multimodal approach to assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning, and clinical interventions. This chapter outlines a blueprint for therapists to provide treatment for children by integrating these fundamental principles while collaborating with the other people in the child’s life. The chapter guides the therapist through case conceptualization that integrates the most efficacious treatment interventions into the eight-phase template of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Adaptive information processing (AIP) theory drives treatment with EMDR throughout the eight phases of that protocol and provides a template for case conceptualization and treatment planning. The use of the EMDR approach to psychotherapy is well documented and approved as evidence-based practice in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) and California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC).

Children are exposed to distress, violence, and trauma even before they are born. In-utero and early childhood exposure can contribute to severe medical and psychological consequences. Children who have been exposed to such traumatic events often arrive at the psychotherapist’s office with emotional and behavioral symptoms suggestive of reactive attachment disorder (RAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and dissociation. This chapter reviews relevant theories of dissociation integrated with theories of development to provide a summary of how attachment impacts dissociation. With a developmentally grounded theory of dissociation, the chapter describes clinical interventions for treating the dissociative sequelae of attachment trauma in children. This theoretical framework offers a developmentally grounded and integrative framework for working with children with complex trauma and dissociation. Symptoms of dissociation are common with PTSD, but an extreme response to trauma can be dissociation and dissociative disorders.

This chapter presents how eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and Theraplay can be used together when treating children with a history of complex trauma. Theraplay focuses on the parent-child relationship as the healing agent that holds within it the potential to cultivate growth and security in the child. The chapter shows some core concepts that help define and illuminate the application of Theraplay. Now that a clear review of basic Theraplay principles has been provided, people need to look at EMDR therapy and the adaptive information processing (AIP) model in conjunction with Theraplay and Theraplay core values. Early in its development, Theraplay integrated parental involvement into its therapeutic model. During the reprocessing phases of EMDR therapy, Theraplay can be very helpful in providing different avenues for emotion regulation and for the repairing of the attachment system.

This chapter integrates elements and strategies of internal family systems (IFS) psychotherapy into eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy with complexly traumatized children. It shows a description of healing a part using in-sight with a child. In-sight involves having the client look inside to find and work with parts that he or she sees or senses and describes to the therapist. The IFS therapist starts by ensuring the client’s external environment is safe and supportive of the therapy. In a self-led system, polarizations are absent or greatly diminished, leaving more harmony and balance. However, when and how the self is formed may be seen and conceptualized through different lenses in adaptive information processing (AIP)-EMDR and IFS. According to the AIP model, the human brain and biological systems are shaped by the environmental experiences they encounter.

The inclusion of parents and family caregivers throughout the phases of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is essential for best treatment outcome with highly traumatized and internally disorganized children. Parental responses that create dysregulation in the child’s system also appear to be related to the parent’s capacity to reflect, represent and give meaning to the child’s internal world. This chapter shows a case that exemplifies how the caregiver’s activation of maladaptive neural systems perpetuates the child’s exposure to multiple and incongruent models of the self and other. Helping parents arrive at a deeper level of understanding of their parental role using the adaptive information processing (AIP) model, attachment theory, regulation theory and interpersonal neurobiology principals will create a solid foundation. The thermostat analogy is designed to assist parents in understanding their role as external psychobiological regulators of the child’s system.

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book attempts to contribute to improving children’s lives by providing a comprehensive and effective treatment protocol. To enhance treatment efficacy and improve the trajectory for children’s lives, case conceptualization in child psychotherapy must integrate developmental theory, neuroscience, and best practice models into clinical practice. The book reviews some of the latest research on attachment and neuroscience that impacts case conceptualization in child psychotherapy. In 1989, Shapiro proposed a new treatment approach she entitled eye movement desensitization (EMD) and, later, eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) to treat trauma. After reviewing the major theories of attachment and Schore’s current rendition that he labels self-regulation theory, the book offers a foundation for therapists to use develop-mentally grounded theory through the lens of adaptive information processing (AIP) to treat attachment issues in clients of all ages.

This chapter explains the third toolkit, Healthy Thinking and Positive Imagery, and addresses two significant barriers to effective problem solving: that of negative thinking and feelings of hopelessness. The two activities in this toolkit to help people overcome negative thinking habits include: the “ABC” model of healthy thinking, and reverse advocacy role-plays. The “ABC Model of Healthy Thinking” was introduced as a means by which to better identify one’s negative thinking in order to eventually dispute such inaccuracies with more positive self-statements. A second tool to help individuals overcome their negative thinking involves an in-session role-play procedure and is aimed at helping patients change their maladaptive beliefs and distorted perceptions of external stimuli. Other potential barriers to coping effectively with stressful problems are feelings of hopelessness and poor motivation characteristic of a negative problem orientation.

This chapter presents several strategies, analogies, and metaphors to address dissociation from different angles and perspectives. Clinicians will have a wide range of methods of introducing and explaining dissociation to children. Analogies and stories that help children understand the multiplicity of the self may be presented during the preparation phase of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. A good way of introducing the concept of dissociation is by using the dissociation kit for kids. Stimulating interoceptive awareness is a fundamental aspect of the work needed during the preparation phase of EMDR therapy with dissociative children. Visceral, proprioceptive, as well as kinesthetic-muscle awareness should be stimulated. The installation of present resolution (IPR) was inspired by an exercise developed by Steele and Raider. In this exercise, the child is asked to draw a picture of the past traumatic event followed by a picture of the child in the present.

During the installation phase, the child can experience a felt positive belief about himself or herself in association with the memory being reprocessed. Children with history of early and chronic trauma have difficulty tolerating positive affect. Enhancing and amplifying their ability to tolerate and experience positive emotions and to hold positive views of the self are pivotal aspects of eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. This chapter shows a script that may be used with children during the body scan phase. Assisting children in achieving emotional and psychological equilibrium after each reprocessing session as well as ensuring their overall stability are fundamental goals of the closure phase of EMDR therapy. The reevaluation phase of EMDR therapy ensures that adequate integration and assimilation of maladaptive material has been made. The future template of the EMDR three-pronged protocol is a pivotal aspect of EMDR therapy.

The primary goals of the assessment phase are to access the memory network containing traumatogenic material and to access and activate the cognitive, affective, and somatic aspects of the memory. Since the reprocessing phases of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy follow immediately after the assessment phase, the clinician should have prepared potential interweaves in case the child’s processing of the memory gets blocked. Children with complex trauma histories may already have sensitized sympathetic systems that make them prone to being in fight flight mode even in the face of safety. The chronically traumatized children present with sensitized dorsal vagal systems. Current caregiving and attachment behaviors have the potential for activating the attachment system, and with it past dysfunctional attachment experiences. One of the best adjunct approaches that can be used within a comprehensive EMDR treatment is sandtray therapy.

This chapter presents the therapy manual detailing the specific treatment guidelines encompassing problem-solving therapy (PST). It is important during the initial sessions with a new client to develop a positive therapeutic relationship. Upon obtaining a brief version of the client’s story, it becomes important early in treatment to provide an overview of PST that includes a rationale for why it is relevant to, and potentially effective for, this individual. Problem solving can be thought of as a set of skills or tools that people use to handle, cope with, or resolve difficult situations encountered in daily living. Research has demonstrated that social problem solving is comprised of two major components. The first is called problem orientation. The second major component is one’s problem-solving style. The chapter also presents the case of a 27-year-old woman suffering from multiple concerns, including anxiety, depression, fears of “going crazy”, and prior alcohol abuse.

The incorporation of a skill-building phase and eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) games can greatly enhance and facilitate the utilization of EMDR therapy with children who have a history of complex trauma. Some EMDR games work with cognitive skills, others work with emotional skills, while others work with the body and the language of sensation. The use of positive cognition cards offers a great opportunity to play and use a wide range of card games. This chapter exemplifies how to use negative cognition games. Feeling cubes contain different basic emotions appropriate for children. Clinicians can purchase plain wooden cubes and write different feelings on the cube. A wide range of card games can be used with the feeling cards. The memory wand offers another playful approach to the process of identifying traumatic events with children. The chapter shows a playful way of exploring and identifying parent-child interactions.

The basic goals of phase one are to develop a working relationship and a therapeutic alliance and to determine if the level of expertise of the eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) clinician is adequate for the complexity of the case. Other goals are to develop a comprehensive treatment plan and case formulation. EMDR therapy was developed as a form of treatment to ameliorate and heal trauma. Clinicians working with complex trauma must have substantial understanding of the adaptive information processing (AIP) model and the EMDR methodology. During phase one, the clinician works on creating an atmosphere of trust and safety so a therapeutic alliance can be formed with the child and the caregivers. This chapter shows an example of how medical issues can affect the quality of the parent-child communications. The adult attachment interview (AAI) gives us the view of the presence of the experiences in the parent’s life.

Child psychotherapy is different than any other type of adult-child relationship. A trained mental health professional is using clinical skills to help a child find the answers to the problems he or she has encountered. This chapter outlines the most common symptoms in child psychotherapy. Anxiety is one of the most common symptoms of childhood, but the etiology and manifestation of anxiety varies. Anxiety is a symptom of many other disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), separation anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia and other specific phobias, selective mutism, mood disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Gifted children tend to have higher levels of anxiety because they can think about things they are not yet emotionally prepared to manage. The chapter discusses clinical interventions for common issues of childhood, along with resources for children, directions for parents, and references for parents, caregivers, educators, and therapists alike.

This chapter explores theories of human development, also referred to as developmental psychology, as a knowledge base for professionals to integrate theory into case conceptualization in child psychotherapy. It provides a brief overview of the significant contributions of developmental psychology to the field of child psychotherapy that impact case conceptualization in the clinical treatment of children. Many theorists have shaped the study of human development, including Buford Jeanette Johnson, Anna Freud, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Urie Bronfenbrenner, Erik Erikson, Jerome Kagan, John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner, Albert Bandura, Lawrence Kohlberg, Jerome Brunner, Robert J. Havighurst, and Emmy Werner. Collectively, their theories propose explanations of all aspects of human development, including psychosexual, cognitive, social, psychosocial, behavioral, and neurological development, along with memory, information processing theories, and resilience. The chapter includes educational theory in order to understand how children are challenged to learn not only internally, but also externally, as well.

International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD)’s professional training institute offers comprehensive courses on childhood dissociation that are taught internationally and online. This chapter briefly cites some of the theories that have emerged in the dissociative field. One system, the apparently normal personality (ANP) enables an individual to perform necessary functions, such as work. The emotional personality (EP) is action system fixated at the time of the trauma to defend from threats. As with the Adaptive Information Processing Model (AIP) in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), each phase brings reassessment of the client’s ability to move forward to effectively process trauma. There are many overlapping symptoms with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and dissociation that often mask the dissociation. The rate of diagnosis of pediatric bipolar disorder has increased 40 times in the last ten years.

This chapter provides an overview of a conceptual model that explains the role that social problem solving (SPS) plays regarding adaptive versus maladaptive reactions to stressful life events, both major and minor in nature. This model describes the interplay among three related systems, each of which provides for a level of analysis regarding stressful events, problem solving, and health/mental health outcomes. System I is a distal system and represent the first level of analysis that focuses on the relationship between certain genetic factors and early childhood life stress. System II, the proximal system, focuses on later life and the interactions among major negative life events, daily stressors, and various neurobiological systems that are etiologically related to extant distress. The third system, System III, is the more immediate level of analysis and represents a more microanalytic perspective that addresses the interactions among stressful stimuli, various brain components, and emotions.

Desensitization is a complex and important phase of eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. This chapter covers child-friendly strategies and interweaves that support and stimulates the social engagement system, maintain dual awareness and kindle children’s integrative capacities. It presents advanced strategies and interweaves that can facilitate the assimilation of memories of trauma and adversity as well as to promote vertical and horizontal integration. Shapiro developed a strategy to jump-start blocked processing that she called ‘the cognitive interweave’. According to Shapiro, clients spontaneously move through the three plateaus of information processing: responsibility, safety, and control/power, to a more adaptive perspective during reprocessing. Most children injured and traumatized in the adult-child relationship carry within the responsibility of the event. Mindful awareness in EMDR is pivotal during the reprocessing phases. The use of nonverbal communication strategies can greatly facilitate the process for children working on memories of events occurring pre-verbally.

This chapter provides information for therapists to integrate theories of neuroscience into the practice of child psychotherapy. Neuroscientists have described how the brain develops, documented the impact of external experiences on the developing brain, and integrated theories of neurodevelopment and neuroplasticity into our understanding of the impact of our interpersonal relationships on our brain. The chapter focuses on developmental trauma disorder and the research on the impact of trauma on children. The majority of the research on trauma in children has focused on the assessment and diagnosis of Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, there are a limited number of studies that have documented the efficacy of the treatment of PTSD in children. The chapter reviews diagnoses specific to neurodevelopment, including autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and sensory processing disorders (SPD).

The work directed toward increasing the child’s ability to tolerate and regulate affect, so that the processing of traumatic material can be achieved, is initiated during the preparation phase. The process of providing the neural stimulation to improve the child’s capacity to bond, regulate, explore, and play should begin during the early phases of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. The Polyvagal theory presents a hierarchical model of the autonomic system. In complexly traumatized children, the development of this system has been compromised due to the early dysregulated and traumatizing interactions with their environments and caregivers. When describing the various forms of bilateral stimulation (BLS), go over the different options and practice with the child. If the child went through the calm-safe place protocol successfully, motivating the child to actually use it when facing environmental triggers is an important goal.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy was independently designated as a psychotherapy approach, and was validated by twenty randomized controlled clinical trials. Results of meta-analyses show EMDR as an effective and efficacious treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults and children. Childhood complex trauma refers to the exposure of early chronic and multiple traumatic events. The adaptive information processing (AIP) model constitutes the central piece and foundation of EMDR therapy. Affective neuroscience brings up the importance of PLAY as a healing agent. The polyvagal theory emerged out of the work of Stephen Porges on the evolution of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) brings a viewpoint that integrates objective realms of scientific findings and subjective realms of human knowing. The structural dissociation theory of the personality is based on Pierre Janet’s view of dissociation as a division among systems that constitute the personality of an individual.

This chapter clarifies treatment throughout the similarities as well as the differences between eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and sensorimotor psychotherapy in child treatment. Dysregulated arousal and overactive animal defenses biased by traumatic experience are at the root of many symptoms and difficulties observed in traumatized children. Traumatic or adverse experiences are encoded in memory networks in the brain. The adaptive information processing (AIP) looks at different components of the memory network: cognitive, emotional and somatic. EMDR therapy and its phases access not only the cognitive aspects of the memory, but the affective and bodily states. In working with children, microphones may add a playful approach to translating the body’s language. Oscillation techniques are also useful in helping children to shift their focus from dysregulated states to a more resourced experience, which supports flexibility in state shifting and increases awareness of different states.

This chapter focuses on practical assessment issues related to the effective implementation of problem-solving therapy (PST). When comparing an individual’s Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R) scores with the normative data provided in the manual, raw scores are converted to standard scores such that the total SPSI-R score as well as each of the five major scale and four subscale scores have a mean of 100 with a standard deviation of 15. If the referral problem is specific, or if PST is being provided to a group that was constituted around a common diagnosis, other checklists may exist or can be developed that include common problems related to that diagnosis or group theme. Group treatment can be preferable in those situations where multiple clients are able to serve as sources of feedback to each other regarding both problem-solving skill acquisition and implementation.

This chapter defines neurodevelopmental disorders, and examines the medical, psychosocial, and vocational aspects of two neurodevelopmental disorders that are increasing in the U.S. population: autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It provides populations at risk of being diagnosed with ASD or ADHD, and distinguishes key considerations for outreach, eligibility determination, and rehabilitation assessment and planning. The chapter considers services to be included in the rehabilitation plan to facilitate goal achievement for consumers with ASD or ADHD, and examines evidence-based practices in job development, placement, and retention. Both ASD and ADHD can be accompanied by co-occurring psychiatric disabilities. Counseling and guidance are always individualized to the unique characteristics, rehabilitation needs, and preferences of each rehabilitation consumer. Rehabilitation counselors must also take into consideration the importance of family involvement in the transition and rehabilitation of youths with ASD and ADHD.

This chapter describes changes in the age demographic of the American populace that will steadily increase the number of elderly people in the United States for the next 30 years, and examines the relationship among aging, health, and disability. It provides the characteristics and needs of people who have frequently occurring aging-related disabling conditions such as dementia, rheumatoid arthritis, and stroke. The most common chronic health conditions for people over the age of 65 include arthritis, hypertensive disease, heart disease, hearing impairments, musculoskeletal impairments, chronic sinusitis, diabetes, and visual impairments. It is important for rehabilitation counselors to understand the impact that population aging has had and will continue to have on family interaction and socialization, the American economy, and human health care and social service systems. In providing counseling and guidance services to individuals with age-related disabilities, the issue of chronicity is often of paramount concern.

This chapter considers addiction generally without reference to the specific chemical to which an addiction develops. It discusses the neuroscience of addiction. The chapter presents the story on how addictive chemicals change the brain. Research on brain changes with addiction does provide useful information on when recovering persons are more susceptible to relapse. The chapter discusses the understanding based on animal work, and considers the heterogeneity of addictive patterns in people. It explores some of the findings on genetic variations associated with the risk of addiction to drugs of abuse. The chapter then provides specific information on how to screen and initiate treatment. In the United States, opiate agonists like buprenorphine and methadone are legal and considered to be treatment. Mandated treatment is as effective as voluntary treatment, probably because alcoholics often get convinced of the wisdom of change in the course of treatment.

This chapter focuses on genes and epigenetics of physiology. It discusses some of the major neurotransmitters, and explains how neurons function and how they communicate with each other through neurotransmitters. The chapter offers information about the immune system, which interacts with the nervous system to influence mood and behavior. It then focuses on three circuits that are relevant to styles of behavior: the appetitive or approach system, the regulatory control system, and the learned helplessness system. The chapter explores two additional circuits, the behavioral activation system (BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS). It then covers the physiological systems supporting emotional behavior: the autonomic nervous system and hormones, and considers how social connections influence the brain and its physiology. The chapter reviews cortisol because it is released in response to stress. Additionally, oxytocin is considered because it can affect mood and behavior associated with mood disorders.

This chapter demonstrates the methodology for formulating cases using the adaptive information processing (AIP) and Indicating Cognitions of Negative Networks (ICoNN) models in conjunction, with clinical case material. Engaging and holding a client with psychosis in the safe intersubjective dynamic requires a biopsychosocial container to be generated within a robust therapeutic alliance. The AIP model of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy invites us to acknowledge that psychosis has meaning that is driven by the dysfunctional memory network (DMN), which is the core pathogen. In ICoNN 1, psychotic phenomena are present on examination and distress the person, causing a functional impairment. The psychological pathogen (DMN) is identified and is acknowledged by the person as holding strong emotion with a negative valence, which is etiologically connected to the psychosis. This DMN may be targeted with the standard EMDR therapy model and reprocessed.

This chapter examines the roles that lifestyle factors and climate change play in the onset and exacerbation of emerging disabilities, and provides examples of chronic illnesses and disabilities linked to lifestyle and climate change that are increasing in the population. It considers the medical, psychosocial, and vocational characteristics of emerging disabilities associated with lifestyle and climate change, and explores characteristics of populations at risk of acquiring disabilities and chronic illnesses associated with lifestyle and climate change. The respective incidences of diabetes, asthma, and heart disease have reached epidemic proportions in the United States. The chapter presents an overview of the health impacts of extreme heat, extreme weather events, air pollution, and vector-borne diseases. Temperature increases, changing precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events have resulted in the increased spread of vector-borne diseases. Health promotions services may be especially beneficial to individuals with lifestyle disabilities to assist them with changing health-related behaviors.

This chapter examines the medical, psychosocial, and vocational characteristics, challenges, and rehabilitation needs of emerging populations of individuals with psychiatric disabilities, and introduces a recovery-oriented approach to providing responsive services to individuals with psychiatric disabilities. It explores integrated, evidence-based, and emerging practices to facilitate better recovery and rehabilitation outcomes for these populations. The onset of psychiatric disabilities occurs during critical years when major changes are occurring in the areas of identity formation and cognitive, psychosocial, psychosexual, and career development. Many individuals with psychiatric disabilities receive their health care in emergency departments and intensive care units and not until their secondary conditions create medical crises. Substance use disorders (SUDs) often co-occur with psychiatric disabilities. The principles of recovery align with the core values and principles of rehabilitation counseling. Illness management and recovery (IMR) is an evidence-based practice for equipping individuals with the knowledge and skills they need to self-manage their disabilities.

The importance of the functioning of mind and the limitations of medication has encouraged some clinicians to advance the use of psychotherapy. In the present period this is mostly in the form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for schizophrenia and psychosis, and this is strongly promoted in the British Psychological Society (BPS) publication “Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia: Why People Sometimes Hear Voices, Believe Things That Others Find Strange, or Appear Out of Touch With Reality, and What Can Help”. Although this document has not been received without criticism, it makes some very interesting reading for us as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapists and students of the Indicating Cognitions of Negative Networks (ICoNN) model. The meta-analyses that showed the most encouraging effect sizes were looking at two groups: treatment-resistant schizophrenia, and forms of psychotherapy that were highly specific and tailored according to case formulation, targeting delusions and auditory hallucinations.

This chapter looks at dissociation, psychosis, and schizophrenia from a phenomenological standpoint. Phenomenology is the lens through which psychiatrists look at mental illness, and psychiatry as a specialty has looked at people in this way from its earliest days. In taking a phenomenological view of dissociation and psychosis, the chapter reiterates some of the dissonance brought by Laing when he invited people to understand schizophrenia as a theoretical model and not a biological entity. Extreme dissociation is the most primitive form of survival, where a human being is confronted with events that are impossible to process. Treating schizophrenia by formulating it within a trauma and dissociation paradigm allows for the application of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, which is one of the current international gold-standard psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This chapter covers psychiatric diagnoses that might be applied to children seen in primary care: pediatric bipolar disorder, major depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It discusses the diagnoses of the context in the neuroscience explaining the disorder. The chapter reviews the efficacy of current pharmacological treatments along with explanations regarding how they impact physiology, and considers side effects. It also provides alternatives to drugs administered for distress in the children themselves. The profile of adults with bipolar I differs dramatically from the behavioral pattern of children being diagnosed as having pediatric bipolar disorder. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved fluoxetine/Prozac for the treatment of depression in children. Antidepressants carry an FDA black-box warning for suicidal ideation in children and adolescents. Stimulant drugs are the mainstay of treatment for ADHD. The number of children in foster care receiving antipsychotic drugs is particularly notable.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy offers an efficient method to digest the toxic psychological pathogen, which we hypothesize to be the dysfunctional memory network (DMN). This, in turn, according to the adaptive information processing (AIP) model, ought to result in a diminution or resolution of psychosis. This chapter outlines the customary intention of the treatment phase in the standard model before noting the relevant Indicating Cognitions of Negative Networks (ICoNN) modifications. Treatment planning sets the route for the therapeutic journey. In a standard case, careful history taking acquires one or more targets that relate to DMNs. These DMNs are triggered for the person by internal and/or external stimuli, and when triggered they result in unfortunate emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions. These reactions are essentially the phenomena that have brought the person into therapy at this point in his or her.

This chapter helps the reader to understand the justifiable optimism when applying eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to psychosis and to equip clinicians with the skills to identify those people experiencing psychosis who are most suitable for EMDR therapy. The adaptive information processing (AIP) model and the dysfunctional memory network (DMN) are paradigms that have validity beyond posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); they are just as valid for addictions, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and psychosis. The chapter explores the people who are suitable for EMDR therapy for psychosis, using the Indicating Cognitions of Negative Networks (ICoNN) model, in two groups: first, people with psychosis who have a clear trauma history or comorbid PTSD; and second, those who meet current criteria for schizophrenia within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) classification systems in addition to the proposed criteria for dissociative schizophrenia.

This chapter defines emerging disabilities; explores medical, psychosocial, and vocational implications of emerging disabilities that distinguish them from traditional disabilities; and provides demographic characteristics of individuals who are most vulnerable to acquiring emerging disabilities. It examines some social and environmental trends that have contributed to the development of emerging patterns and types of disabilities including advances in medicine and assistive technology, globalization, climate change, poverty, violence and trauma, the aging American populace, and disability legislation. Psychological and physical trauma from warfare, violent crime, intimate partner violence, and youth violence can result in permanent physical, cognitive, and psychiatric disabilities. Diagnostic uncertainties, misdiagnoses, and skepticism on the part of medical providers are frequently associated with emerging disabilities. Women also represent a population that is at an increased risk of acquiring emerging disabilities and chronic illnesses. Rehabilitation systems are still not fully prepared to address the multifaceted needs of individuals with emerging disabilities.

In this third category of presentations in the Indicating Cognitions of Negative Networks (ICoNN) model, the psychotic phenomena are evident, causing distress and a functional impairment. However, the psychological pathogen cannot be identified in the standard way and strong emotions cannot be tracked back across an affect bridge. The main phenomena that characterize this category of ICoNN cases are “heard voices” that can be spoken with. They act as a proxy for the dysfunctional memory network (DMN). Reprocessing is ultimately accomplished using an ego-state approach/voice dialogue approach with the facilitation of the dual attention stimulation/bilateral stimulation (DAS/BLS) elements of the eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy method. It is vitally important that the therapist work to develop the first three features of effective psychotherapy: an emotionally charged relationship, a therapeutic environment, and a rationale/myth that provides a plausible explanation for the symptoms.