Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
This chapter addresses competencies that are important for clinicians to have in order to work effectively and ethically with child and adolescent AD/HD populations. As background, this chapter begins with a brief review of the primary symptoms of AD/HD,
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Arthur D. Anastopoulos . Lisa M. DeGrass “Once he learned how to walk, all hell broke loose” “I heard about the terrible twos, but my son is 10 now, when is he going to grow out of them?”
Abstract: This chapter addresses competencies that are important for clinicians to have in order to work effectively and ethically with child and adolescent AD/HD populations. As background, this chapter begins with a brief review of the primary symptoms of AD/HD, its associated features, and the factors thought to cause and/or maintain AD/HD across the lifespan. Next, evidence-based treatment approaches and the conceptual mechanisms by which therapeutic change presumably occurs are discussed. Against this background, competencies for beginning clinicians, as well as competencies for more advanced clinicians, are presented. Distinctions between beginning and expert clinicians are made along several dimensions, including: clinician knowledge of AD/HD as a disorder; the degree to which clinicians adhere to field-accepted criteria for AD/HD; clinician selection and use of assessment procedures; the manner in which the developmental deviance of AD/HD symptoms is addressed; the attentiveness of clinicians to comorbidity and diversity issues; clinician awareness of the fact that they are likely to be treating problems presented not only by the child with AD/HD but also his or her family; clinician recognition of and commitment to a multimodal treatment approach. The path from being a clinician with basic competencies to one with more advanced competencies requires not only experience but also an ongoing commitment to excellence and self-improvement, which serves as motivation for seeking out new and better ways of conducting assessments and providing treatment services.
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Overview
At some point in their careers, most child health care professionals hear comments like these, uttered by parents who are frustrated by their inability to control their child’s behavior. Although there are many possible explanations for viewing a child or adolescent who behaves in this way, such statements often come from parents whose children display features of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Some parents do not know a great deal about the disorder and, therefore, are not inclined to attach such a label. Nevertheless, they know that something is wrong, or at the very least “different,” about their child. They might then turn to pediatricians, psychologists, psychiatrists, school counselors, or other health care professionals for further insight and guidance. They might also take the matter into their own hands, searching the Internet for clues about what is wrong with their child and for advice about how to bring about improvements in their child’s behavior. Unfortunately, J. Thomas, M. Hersen (eds.), Handbook of Clinical Psychology Competencies, DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-09757-2_49, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
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