Author: PC011

Enhancing Quality in
School Mental Health

Not Just for Anxiety: Relaxation Training Can Reduce Problem Behaviors

A recent study found that autogenic relaxation training (ART) leads to a reduction in a wide range of behavioral and emotional problems for children and adolescents.
By following specific guidelines, clinicians can bring about a state of physical relaxation in their clients. Research has shown that repeated exposure to this process induces a sense of psychological well-being.
While prior studies demonstrated the effectiveness of ART in adults, Goldbeck and Schmid (2003) evaluated this method using a school-age sample. Results showed that children and adolescents exposed to 10 minutes of ART during group sessions exhibited significantly less symptoms according to parent reports on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).
Many clinicians utilize ART principles in individual and group therapy. By setting aside a few minutes during each session, clinicians can teach their clients different relaxation techniques:
Draft a list of possible places where students can relax before, during, and after school.
Explain relaxation therapy in a manner most students can understand. Help connect relaxation with real-time success: dating, public presentations, peer pressure, sporting events, etc.
Also encourage students to engage in relaxation therapy at home; ask them to record their experience and its perceived effectiveness. Follow up on their experiences as they relate to their therapy goals and monitor change across sessions.
Goldbeck, L., & Schmid, K. (2003). Effectiveness of Autogenic Relaxation Training on children and adolescents with behavioral and emotional problems. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(9), 1046-1054

Go to http://health.discovery.com/encyclopedias/3150.html for more information about relaxation therapy.

Principles of Positive Psychology

Much mental health treatment centers around the philosophy of delays, disease or disorders. In contrast, positive psychology focuses on those traits or abilities which enable happiness. By showing students how to negotiate different emotional contexts, positive psychology equips them with the tools for seeking valuable and enriching life experiences. Consider each student’s strengths along with their weaknesses:
How can the students best utilize their talents despite present symptoms?
Rather than work solely on a specific problem, use their interests and strengths to spur positive action and growth.
For each of your clients, think about how to expand or enrich strengths-spend a session focusing on positive traits! Help the student build a new skill, a new relationship or a new hobby.

Helping the Student with ADHD in the Classroom

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed mental health problem in youth, and it also has the most research behind it. The evidence-base for treatment of ADHD shows that two forms of treatment are the most effective: Stimulant medication and behavioral treatments. The following classroom behavioral interventions have been shown to help:
Set objective classroom rules and structure that are consistently enforced
Teach the teacher how to praise for appropriate behaviors, and ignore mild inappropriate behaviors (you want five times as many praise comments as negative comments)
Guide the teacher in giving clear, specific and manageable commands (e.g., “stay in your seat” instead of “be good.”
Reprimands should be private, not in front of the whole class, and should tell the student what to do, rather than what not to do
Increase academic performance (peer tutors, rewards based on academic performance)
When...then contingencies (ex., assignment completion before free time in study hall)
Daily school-home report card (ask your senior clinician for instruction packet)
Behavior chart/reward and consequence program
Classroom-wide behavioral intervention
Time out (though use this sparingly, and only with younger children)

Go to www.chadd.org for more information on ADHD

Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Adolescents

Clinicians use a variety of therapeutic techniques when working with children and adolescents; however, clinical trials reveal only a small number of techniques as efficacious.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (Mufson, Dorta, Moreau & Weissman, 2004) provides clinicians with a manual for conducting an intervention that has been shown to be effective both in schools and in outpatient settings (IPT-A). IPT is based on the idea that depression significantly affects interpersonal relationships. IPT-A aims to reduce the symptoms of depression by choosing one or two problem areas to focus on, and to emphasize the interpersonal nature of the problem in the student’s current relationships. Possible problem areas are: grief reactions, parent-child disputes, peer conflicts, difficulty making transitions between stages of life, coping with changes in family structure, and communication problem. The therapist then helps the adolescent negotiate the interpersonal difficulties arising in each problem area by teaching specific strategies, such as: expression of affect, communication skills, clarification of expectations for relationships or interpersonal problem solving.
Mufson, L, Dorta, K.P, Moreau, D. & Weissman, M.M. (2004). Interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed adolescents (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.