Book Description

Internalizing disorders in children and adolescents are particularly problematic for mental health professionals. Covert by nature and therefore the most difficult to identify, these conditions often go unrecognized by parents and teachers until it is too late. Without the intellectual or emotional resources to communicate their distress, children and adolescents suffering from internalizing disorders inhabit a world of quiet misery full of worry, fears, anxieties, dysfunctional thoughts and perceptions, and somatic disorders. Fortunately, the past decade has seen a tremendous effort on the part of researchers and clinicians directed at providing procedures for the evaluation and treatment of these problems. This book is the first to treat internalizing disorders as a distinct class of related pathological conditions, including depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, anxiety disorders, suicidal behaviors, and somatic disorders. Its main goals are to examine the concept of internalization as a mental process that can become disordered and to clarify the dynamics of internalizing disorders and the prospects for intervention with them. To that end, it brings together contributions from some of the foremost researchers and clinicians in the field. Initial chapters cover the nature and classification of internalizing disorders in children and adolescents. Following these are a series of chapters, each offering a comprehensive overview of a specific disorder, its diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. An effort has been made to present, throughout, a blend of psychological and psychiatric approaches to each disorder. Bringing together contributions from leading experts on a wide range ofinternalizing disorders, Internalizing Disorders in Children and Adolescents is an indispensable resource for child psychologists, child psychiatrists, and educational and school psychologists, as well as clinical social workers and pediatricians.