Infancy and Early Childhood

Book excerpt: The clinical assessment, treatment, and prevention of emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems in infancy and early childhood may be the most important frontier in the behavioral sciences. There has not, however, been a definitive text on how to actually work clinically with infants, young children, and their families until Infancy and Early Childhood. This comprehensive handbook is the first in the field to provide a systematic, clinically based, practical frame of reference. Completely written by Stanley Greenspan, M.D.--the foremost authority on clinical work with infants, young children, and their families--this landmark work carefully takes the reader through every subtle facet of the clinical assessment and intervention process. With more than 20 thorough case studies, in-depth discussions of clinical principles, and hundreds of practical guidelines and suggestions for assessment and intervention, this eminently useful volume: describes the critical steps in the observation and clinical assessment process, including the hands-on assessment of the infant and the evaluation of affective, motor, sensory, language, cognitive, interactive, and parental and family functioning; illustrates how to formulate the diagnosis of a wide range of infant and early childhood problems and use the formulation to plan effective intervention approaches; provides a clear model of, and in microscopic detail discusses, the psychotherapeutic and preventative intervention process. Specific treatment and preventative approaches for work with constitutional and maturational variations, infant-care-giver interactions, and parental and family patterns are described for problems ranging from mildinteractive and regulatory difficulties to the most severe pervasive developmental dysfunctions and family challenges; discusses how to set up an infant and early childhood clinical practice as well as an assessment and treatment center. This major, single-authored work is certain to become the definitive text for every professional working with infants, young children and their families, including psychiatrists, psychologists, pediatricians, social workers, educators, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and nurses.