Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology Made Simple, 4th Edition

Course overview

In 2019, 13.6% of U.S. children and adolescents aged 5 -17 years old received mental health treatment, which included counseling, therapy, and/or medication. A total of 8.4% of the same age group took prescription medication for their mental health (Zablotsky & Terlizzi, 2020). Psychiatric medications, however, are only appropriate for specific types of emotional distress. While psychopharmacological treatment has been implemented for children and adolescents for several decades, it is critical to recognize that young people may experience emotional suffering due to multiple factors, including poverty, discrimination, prenatal conditions, trauma, and/or neuropsychiatric disorders. It is likewise essential that mental health providers are familiar with the conditions under which it is appropriate to refer children and adolescents for psychiatric medication evaluations and treatment. The purpose of this course is to present an overview of clinical psychopharmacology for children and adolescents suffering from a range of mental health conditions, which include ADHD, depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders, and other mental and behavioral disorders. This course provides social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors with information on diagnostics, differential diagnosis, and medication strategies. The descriptions of psychopharmacology contained in the text offers mental health and human services providers the opportunity to update, improve, or gain the tools and knowledge base necessary for recognizing when clients are in need of psychiatric medication evaluation referrals, discussing the benefits and risks of psychopharmacology with patients and their parents, and supporting clients and parents with the treatments recommended by a child or teen's prescriber, including over-the-counter (OTC) products. For information about our unlimited plan please visit ce4less.com