Edited by Hans Steiner (Stanford University, USA)

Table of Contents (67k)
Chapter 1: Introduction (115k)

Mental disorders in children and adolescents have gained prominence in recent years, and clinicians in the field are increasingly on the lookout for new methods in diagnosis and treatment. In the last 25 years, the Stanford Division of Child Psychiatry has become one of the premier clinical, research, and educational facilities in child and adolescent psychiatry, both nationally and internationally. Its faculty has distinguished itself in several key domains of psychopathology in both basic and clinical research.

This handbook provides a detailed description of unique diagnostic and treatment approaches to mental disorders in the Stanford Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Most of the principal authors of this volume are members of or previously affiliated with the Stanford faculty. Readers will thus be privy to Stanford's highly distinct approach, characterized by principles of developmental approaches to psychopathology and an emphasis on integrated treatment packages. Moreover, clinicians will appreciate how the faculty's novel approach to diagnosis and treatment is strongly influenced by pediatric and developmental thinking. Empirical support and practice based rationale for the current diagnostic and treatment algorithms and methodologies in Stanford clinics will be presented in a highly lucid manner.

Written with frontline mental health clinicians in mind, this handbook will prove an invaluable asset to those who wish to implement Stanford's approach to mental disorders in children and adolescents, or simply broaden their horizons on the cutting-edge methods in the field.

"This is a serious book on developmental psychopathology in children and adolescents edited by a very competent person, Professor Hans Steiner, who was born and educated in Vienna, Austria (it seems we have had many excellent physicians coming out of that town over the last 100 years), but received his expertise in child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and his adult psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical Center. Today he is professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine with several important textbooks and many hundreds of published scientific articles.

This is a first edition on the developmental science and evidence-based clinical practice for children and youth with mental health problems with a focus on intervention. This book has 36 chapters with 54 mainly American contributors divided into four parts: developmental science, psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and sociotherapy.

Each chapter in itself is an enjoyment, but it was nice to find a whole chapter on research methodology in clinical trials by Kirti Saxena and Christine Blasey, both from Stanford University.

This handbook and in fact textbook is warmly recommended for students in psychopathology from the field of both child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology."

Professor Joav Merrick, MD, Director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Medical Director, Division for Mental Retardation, Jerusalem, Israel

Email: jmerrick@internet-zahav.net

Gideon Vardi, MD, Developmental Pediatrician, Zusman Child Development Center, Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel

Email: GideonVa@clalit.org.il

Treating Adolescents presents a concise, up-to-date summary of adolescent development and step-by-step guidance for the effective clinical treatment of specific issues such as anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, somatization, conduct disorders, and psychosis. Each of the contributors has expertise in the treatment of adolescents and offers a blend of cutting-edge knowledge and clinical techniques in his or her subspecialty.

"Treating Adolescents offers the reader a concise biopsychosocial biopsy of adolescence and a clear, comprehensive textbook description of the important issues in the treatment of the major psychopathologies occurring during this most perplexing developmental state of human life."

– Lawrence Stone, M.D., President, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Treating School-Age Children is the second of three volumes on the treatment of children in the Jossey-Bass Library of Current Clinical Technique. This book presents effective and efficient interventions for children who are just beginning school through the years of early puberty. The expert contributors offer frontline clinicians the knowledge and tools they need for assessing and treating the problems that are unique to this age group. Encouraging both creativity and flexibility, this volume presents specific recommendations for the treatment of developmental issues and problems such as hyperactivity, depression, obsession, compulsions, phobias, and trauma-related problems.

Written with the same sensitivity and insights as Treating Preschool Children and Treating Adolescents, this volume is an indispensable guide for meeting the challenge of treating children between the ages of six and twelve.

"This book does not follow the current vogue of minimizing children's mental pain in order to minimize the costs of treatment, but instead it helps clinicians to be the best that they can be."

– John E. Schowalter, M.D., Albert F. Solnit Professor of Child Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Child Study Center, Yale University

Treating Preschool Children is the third volume on the treatment of children in the Jossey-Bass Library of Current Clinical Technique. This book focuses on the clinical treatment of children from birth through age five, when the most devastating child psychiatric syndromes can first appear. Written by a team of researchers and frontline clinicians, this hands-on resource provides the knowledge and tools necessary to assess and treat serious problems, such as autism, mental retardation, abuse, and neglect. In addition, the authors present a variety of specific interventions for common behavioral issues, including feeding disorders, attachment disorders, sleep problems, toilet training, and gender issues.

Written with the same sensitivity and insights as Treating School-Age Children and Treating Adolescents, this volume is an indispensable guide for meeting the challenges of treating children during during these early, critical years.

"Hans Steiner is to be congratulated on this important effort to call attention to clinical problems in the earliest years of life. In this introductory text, he has assembled an outstanding group of clinicians who describe and illustrate the important developmental and clinical issues of the first five years. Those who evaluate and treat young children will find much to admire in this well-organized volume."

– Charles H. Zeanah, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, Louisiana State University Medical College