An Introduction to Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Book excerpt: Anyone who works within children and adolescent mental health services will tell you what a challenging and complex world it is. To help prepare you, the authors have produced a clear introduction to child and adolescent mental health that takes you step-by-step on a journey through the subject. Beginning with the foundations, the book explores the common mental health concepts and influences that you can expect to encounter examining topics like the difference between emotional and mental health issues and how mental health problems develop. It then moves on to explore the vital skills that you will need to develop like effective communication and basic counselling skills, and introduces some of the common interventions like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Psychodynamic theory and Family work. Written by a multi-disciplinary team of passionate and experienced experts, the book strikes an effective balance between introducing the relevant theory and showing how this can be applied in the real world. It is an essential starting point to the subject of child and adolescent mental health and suitable for any students planning to support this group.