Handbook of Developmental Psychiatry

Book excerpt: Mental disorders in children and adolescents have gained prominence in recent years, and clinicians in the field are increasingly on the lookout for new methods in diagnosis and treatment. In the last 25 years, the Stanford Division of Child Psychiatry has become one of the premier clinical, research, and educational facilities in child and adolescent psychiatry, both nationally and internationally. Its faculty has distinguished itself in several key domains of psychopathology in both basic and clinical research. This handbook provides a detailed description of unique diagnostic and treatment approaches to mental disorders in the Stanford Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Most of the principal authors of this volume are members of or previously affiliated with the Stanford faculty. Readers will thus be privy to Stanford's highly distinct approach, characterized by principles of developmental approaches to psychopathology and an emphasis on integrated treatment packages. Moreover, clinicians will appreciate how the faculty's novel approach to diagnosis and treatment is strongly influenced by pediatric and developmental thinking. Empirical support and practice based rationale for the current diagnostic and treatment algorithms and methodologies in Stanford clinics will be presented in a highly lucid manner. Written with frontline mental health clinicians in mind, this handbook will prove an invaluable asset to those who wish to implement Stanford's approach to mental disorders in children and adolescents, or simply broaden their horizons on the cutting-edge methods in the field.