Clinician's Handbook of Child Behavioral Assessment (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professional)

Given the vast amount of research related to behavioral assessment, it is difficult for clinicians to keep abreast of new developments. In recent years, there have been advances in assessment, case conceptualization, treatment planning, treatment strategies for specific disorders, and considerations of new ethical and legal issues. Keeping track of advances requires monitoring diverse resources limited to specific disorders, many of which give short shrift to child assessment, overlooking developmental considerations. Much of the existing literature is either theoretical/research in focus or clinical in nature. Nowhere are the various aspects of child behavioral assessment placed in a comprehensive research/clinical context, nor is there much integration as to conceptualization and treatment planning. The Clinician’s Handbook of Child Behavioral Assessment was created to fill this gap, summarizing critical information for child behavioral assessment in a single source.

The Clinician’s Handbook of Child Behavioral Assessment provides a single source for understanding new developments in this field, cutting across strategies, techniques, and disorders. Assessment strategies are presented in context with the research behind those strategies, along with discussions of clinical utility, and how assessment and conceptualization fit in with treatment planning. The volume is organized in three sections, beginning with general issues, followed by evaluations of specific disorders and problems, and closing with special issues. To ensure cross chapter consistency in the coverage of disorders, these chapters are formatted to contain an introduction, assessment strategies, research basis, clinical utility, conceptualization and treatment planning, a case study, and summary. Special issue coverage includes child abuse assessment, classroom assessment, behavioral neuropsychology, academic skills problems, and ethical-legal issues. Suitable for beginning and established clinicians in practice, this handbook will provide a ready reference toward effective child behavioral assessment.

Michel Hersen (Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo, 1966) is Professor and Dean, School of Professional Psychology, Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon. He is Past President of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy. He has written 4 books, co-authored and co-edited 126 books, including the Handbook of Prescriptive Treatments for Adults and Single Case Experimental Designs. He has also published more than 220 scientific journal articles and is co-editor of several psychological journals, including Behavior Modification, Clinical Psychology Review, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, Journal of Family Violence, Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, Journal of Clinical Geropsychology, and Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review Journal. With Alan S. Bellack, he is co-editor of the recently published 11 volume work entitled Comprehensive Clinical Psychology. Dr. Hersen has been the recipient of numerous grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Education, the National Institute of Disabilities and Rehabilitation Research, and the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology, Distinguished Practitioner and Member of the National Academy of Practice in Psychology, and recipient of the Distinguished Career Achievement Award in 1996 from the American Board of Medical Psychotherapists and Psychodiagnosticians. Dr. Hersen has written and edited numerous articles, chapters and books on clinical assessment.