Adhd In Adolescents: Diagnosis And Treatment

This highly practical guide presents an empirically based "nuts-and-bolts" approach to understanding, diagnosing, and treating ADHD in adolescents. Balancing research and theory with detailed case examples, Arthur Robin takes readers through each step of his structured intervention program. Easy-to-follow guidelines illustrate the program's integration of educational, medical, and psychological components. The book contains numerous reproducible handouts and forms, including requisite rating scales and detailed checklists for evaluating ADHD, developing treatment plans, and monitoring psychological, behavioral, family, and academic progress.

While other books have examined ADHD in children and adults, this is the first to delineate a fully integrated approach to working with adolescents. Providing a comprehensive developmental perspective, the author helps practitioners conduct effective assessments and formulate treatment goals that teenagers can comprehend, accept, and achieve. Topics covered include:
-- How core symptoms associated with ADHD are manifested differently in adolescents
-- Strengths and limitations of using DSM-IV criteria for this age group
-- Creative counseling techniques for teenagers with diverse problems
-- Parenting principles that can make a real difference at home
-- Guidelines for handling out-of -control teenagers and stepfamily issues

Readers learn how to recognize and respond to such formidable comorbidities as conduct and mood disorders, substance abuse, truancy, and school dropout, in order to prevent these conditions from incapacitating the adolescent and causing further problems in adulthood. The latest findings on commonly prescribedstimulant and nonstimulant medications are presented, enabling nonmedical professionals to work more effectively with physicians. The author also describes how academic performance can be enhanced by fostering specialized skills in homework organization, test preparation, memorization, and reading comprehension. The volume concludes with inspiring autobiographical accounts from two adolescents who are meeting the challenges of ADHD.

This book meets a crucial need for mental health practitioners in private practice, school, community and managed care settings. It will also prove to be an indispensable text for advanced undergraduate and graduate-level courses in adolescent psychology, psychopathology, and treatment.

This highly practical guide presents an empirically based "nuts-and-bolts" approach to understanding, diagnosing, and treating ADHD in adolescents. Practitioners learn to conduct effective assessments and formulate goals that teenagers can comprehend, accept, and achieve. Educational, medical, and family components of treatment are described in depth, illustrated with detailed case material. Included are numerous reproducible handouts and forms.