School-centered Interventions

Book excerpt: This book presents a practical framework for delivering therapeutic and instructional interventions in schools. Readers will learn how to select evidence-based interventions and make appropriate adaptations for the school context. School is where therapeutic services for children and adolescents are most commonly delivered. When schools help children to develop their social, coping, and problem-solving skills, the children can readily use these skills in their daily interactions. And interventions that take place where problems occur are more likely to be successful than those applied elsewhere. As beneficial as school-based psychological interventions may be, it can be challenging for school psychologists and other school personnel to select the most appropriate ones and to adapt them to the realities of the school environment. School-Centered Interventions presents a practical framework for delivering proven interventions that target the most common psychological, social, and learning problems experienced by children and adolescents-from externalizing and internalizing disorders to the challenges posed by ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. For each symptom profile, Dennis J. Simon examines the diagnostic and developmental considerations, the empirically supported intervention strategies, the instructional supports, crisis intervention protocols, and required family and systemic supports. Throughout, the emphasis is on the school context and its implications. The result is a comprehensive, multi-tiered approach to meeting students' needs.