Clin Psy

CHILD CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

A MODERN HEALTH PROFESSION

by

Wolfgang Linden and Paul L. Hewitt

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Developmental Stages and Childhood Psychopathology

• Some behaviors that are considered to be diagnosable mental disorders in adults are normal behaviors for children.
• The DSM has explicitly defined some disorders as being specific for children.

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Developmental Stages and Childhood Psychopathology (cont'd)

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Developmental Stages and Childhood Psychopathology (cont'd)

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Developmental Stages and Childhood Psychopathology (cont'd)

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Developmental Stages and Childhood Psychopathology (cont'd)

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Ethical Challenges

• Clinical psychologists must be careful when working with children because, under law, they are minors and protected.
• Clinical psychologists should be aware of the age of consent laws in the jurisdictions where they practice.

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Impact of Development on Assessment

• The developmental stage of young patients should be taken into consideration when giving them assessments because some assessments are for children, others are best for young adults, and others are best for adults.

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Impact of Development on Assessment (cont’d)

• When conducting interviews with children, clinical psychologists can adjust the level of the questions to suit the age of the child.

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Intervention

• The targets of interventions for children can be placed into three categories:
• developmental disorders
• externalizing problem behaviors
• internalizing problems

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Intervention (cont’d)

• The most frequent treatments used for children are:
• behavior therapy
• play therapy
• systems therapy

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Overview of Treatment Outcome