Treating Mental Illness and Behavior Disorders in Children Adults With Retardation

Both contemporary and in-depth, this multidisciplinary, multidimensional volume covers all available therapeutic methods, including psychopharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, behavior therapies, cognitive therapy, and the systems approach for all the main diagnostic disorders in people with mental retardation. Since the 1970s, the development of normalization philosophy and the implementation of community care policies have highlighted the nature and treatment of psychiatric and behavior disorders in people with mental retardation and rekindled the interest of scientists, psychiatric practitioners, and service providers. With these changes has grown a substantial body of new research and information on the phenomenology of mental illness and behavior disorders in mentally retarded persons. The editors, together with internationally renowned contributors from the United States and Europe, have compiled the first comprehensive handbook of the current theory and practice of mental health treatment and care in mentally retarded children and adults. Both contemporary and in-depth, this multidisciplinary, multidimensional volume covers all available therapeutic methods, including psychopharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, behavior therapies, cognitive therapy, and the systems approach for all the main diagnostic disorders in people with mental retardation. Beginning with a brief account of epidemiology and clinical presentation (including research trends), this wide-ranging work goes on to discuss therapeutic methods, psychotherapeutic interventions, how to apply these methods to the treatment of specific mental illnesses, how to treat behavior disorders, treatment methods for children, mental health services provision and staff training, and integrative treatment. Filling a major gap in the literature, this indispensable resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, and educators working with mentally retarded persons is also intended for general practitioners, social workers, and therapists working in the same or related fields.