Evidence-Based Psychotherapy with Adolescents: A Primer for New Clinicians

Most courses in counseling, social work, therapy, and clinical psychology programs lump clinical work with "children and adolescents" together into a single unit while the social, emotional, physical, and neurobiological development of youth is often only a portion of a development course that covers the entire human lifespan. The consequence is twofold: department chairs, accrediting agencies, administrators, and faculty are tasked with covering too much content in too few course hours; and graduate students and beginning practitioners are woefully unprepared for working with difficult populations, including teenagers and young adults. Evidence-Based Psychotherapy with Adolescents helps new clinicians working in any treatment setting learn how to conduct psychotherapy with adolescents from a place of understanding and empathy. In addition to addressing adolescent development, psychological theories in practice, neurobiology of adolescents, clinical assessment, and evidence-based treatment approaches for a range of common mental health concerns, the text explains how to build therapeutic alliances with adolescent clients and work with vulnerable populations commonly seen in treatment. A complete guide that empowers readers with the insight and tools necessary to support adolescents as they progress towards adulthood, this book effectively builds the core skill sets of students and new clinicians in social work, psychology, psychiatry, and marriage and family therapy.