Evidence-Based School Mental Health Services: Affect Education, Emotion Regulation Training, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Edition 1

by Gayle L. Macklem

Overview

The challenges of providing mental health services to school children are numerous and diverse, ranging from staffing shortages to insufficient funding to family resistance to administrative indifference. Yet with the U.S. Surgeon General estimating that approximately 20% of young people display signs of psychological problems, the need for such services — particularly for interventions that not only address mental health issues but also reinforce protective factors — is considerable. Evidence-Based School Mental Health Services offers readers an innovative, best-practices approach to providing effective mental health services at school. The author draws on the widely used and effective three-tiered public health model to create a school-based system that addresses the emotional and behavioral needs of students most at risk for experiencing, or showing strong signs and symptoms of, emotional problems or disabilities. This prevention-oriented program adapts cognitive behavioral and other clinical therapies for use in primary through high school settings. In several concise, easy-to-read chapters, the author addresses such important topics as:
• The rationale for building a three-tier mental health system in schools.
• The importance of making emotion regulation training available to all students.
• Designing strategies for adding affect education and emotion regulation training at each tier.
• Providing empirical support for implementing CBT in school settings.
• Preparing young children to benefit from school-based CBT. Also included is an Appendix of specific group activities and exercises that can be put to use in the school setting. Evidence-Based School Mental Health Services is a must-have resource for researchers, scientist-practitioners, and graduate students in school psychology, clinical child psychology, pediatrics, psychiatry, social work, school counseling, education as well as for those who develop or influence public po

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441979063
Publisher:	Springer New York
Publication date:	01/10/2011
Edition description:	2011
Pages:	297
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Gayle L. Macklem, MA, NCSP, LEP, is a Massachusetts-licensed school psychologist and a Massachusetts-licensed educational psychologist. She has served in the field of education for over 30 years. A former president of the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association (MSPA), she serves as the Technology Chairperson of the state association. She is an adjunct instructor in School Psychology at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP) in Boston. She writes curriculum and writes on topics of interest to educators. She is a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences. Ms. Macklem is the author of Springer’s Practitioner's Guide to Emotion Regulation in School-Aged Children (2008) and Bullying and Teasing: Social Power in Children’s Groups (2003).

Table of Contents

Preface.- Acknowledgements.- List of Tables.- Specific Group Activities and Exercises.- The Challenge of Providing Mental Health Services in Schools.- Evidence-based Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 Mental Health Interventions in Schools.- Strengthening School-Counseling Interventions.- Affect Education at Tiers 1, 2, and 3.- Importance of Emotion Regulation Training for Children and Adolescents.- Emotion Regulation Training at Tiers 1, 2, and 3.- Support for the Use of CBT in Schools.- Preparing Young and/or Disabled Children to Benefit from CBT in School-based Settings.- CBT in Schools.- Sustainability, Current Programs and a Look to the Future.- References.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Gary B Kaniuk, Psy.D.(Cermak Health Services)
Description: This book addresses how to offer mental health services in a school setting using a three-tiered public health model.
Purpose: Noting, "There are far fewer resources for school-based practitioners who have different demands on their time, limited resources, and different challenges in general," the author adds, "School-based practitioners need to learn how to add detailed affective education and emotion regulation training to school-based interventions as well as consider a uniform protocol for mental health intervention in schools."
Audience: The book is aimed at "researchers, scientist-practitioners, and graduate students in school psychology, clinical child psychology, pediatrics, psychiatry, social work, school counseling, education as well as for those who develop or influence public policy." The author, a licensed school psychologist and a licensed educational psychologist with over 30 years of experience, is the former president of the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association (MSPA) and is now an adjunct instructor at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology.
Features: The author lists the barriers to mental health programming in schools — human resources, school culture, family, technical complications, and cultural diversity - and remarks that the solution is viewing mental health services as a key component of an effective public health initiative. She defines the three tiers of intervention as universal programs for all students in their classrooms, selected or targeted programs for certain students based on specific risk factors, and indicated programs and interventions for students who display signs/symptoms consistent with mental illness. She then discusses three evidence-based interventions — affect education, emotion regulation, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Affect education is equivalent to emotional knowledge; emotion regulation refers to being able to control one's feelings in the context of internal and external stressors; and cognitive-behavioral therapy combines cognitive and behavioral components in order to address a variety of disorders. The book ends with a look at the future. There are numerous tables and figures as well as a list of specific group activities and exercises for chapters 6, 8, and 9.
Assessment: This is an easy to read and practical book on implementing mental health services in school settings. It is an excellent resource for school personnel and anyone involved in children's mental health.

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