Child Psychotherapy and Research brings together some of the most exciting and innovative research activity taking place within psychoanalytic child psychotherapy today. Drawing on the expertise of an international range of contributors, this book describes work at the cutting edge of research in psychoanalytic child psychotherapy and related areas. It presents many of the emerging findings while also illustrating a whole range of methodologies – both quantitative and qualitative – that have been developed to investigate this field. The book examines the historical and philosophical background of child psychotherapy research and shows how research illuminates different clinical phenomena, the processes of psychotherapy, its evaluation and outcome. Recent developments in therapeutic work with children, including the increased focus on evidence-based practice, make research a much higher priority in the field than ever before. With this increasing significance, a whole new generation of clinicians are required to become familiar and competent with research methods and research literature. Child Psychotherapy and Research will be a vital resource for anyone involved in research and training related to psychotherapy and child mental health, as well as of great interest to a range of mental health professionals.

This groundbreaking work advances a developmental perspective on both the basic processes of therapeutic change and the classification of childhood problems, offering a novel approach to the search for effective treatments for children. Generating a new flow of ideas between clinical practice and empirical research, the volume revitalizes basic modalities such as psychodynamic, play and cognitive therapies by identifying the core ingredients that enhance and retard the processes of change. The authors also demonstrate the limitations of utilizing diagnostic labels as the basis for assessing treatment efficacy, arguing instead for an integrative approach that links methods of intervention with a case-relevant analysis of the child's emotional, interpersonal and cognitive development. This book will appeal to clinical and school psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other clinicians working with children, as well as researchers in the field. It also serves as a text in graduate-level courses on child treatment and child psychopathology.

New Discoveries in Child Psychotherapy presents eleven new contributions to child psychoanalytic research, most of them based on the experience of the clinical consulting room. Each chapter is the work of an experienced child psychotherapist or child analyst, vivid in their description of the children and families they encountered. Their understanding of the "inner worlds" of patients and the clinical consulting room is clearly evidenced in their analysis of clinical presentations. The chapters are the result of the psychoanalytic clinical and observational practices of their authors, allied to their use of rigorous qualitative research methods, in particular Grounded Theory and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). They describe developments of child psychoanalytic knowledge in several fields, including autism, psychotherapy with severely deprived children, and the study of early infancy. They demonstrate advances in child psychoanalytic theories and methods and the development of new forms of clinical service provision. Contested issues in psychoanalytic research are thoroughly evaluated, showing how it can be made more accountable and rigorous through the adaptation of established qualitative research methods to the study of unconscious mental phenomena. New Discoveries in Child Psychotherapy will be an essential text in the field of child psychoanalysis and will be highly useful in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis training courses and for psychoanalytic researchers, as well as for practitioners.

The first book of its kind to provide exhaustive, in-depth coverage of play therapy research Child-Centered Play Therapy Research: The Evidence Base for Effective Practice offers mental health professionals, school district administrators, community agency administrators, judges, lawyers, child protection caseworkers, and medical professionals a comprehensive discussion of play therapy research studies. Guidance is provided on evidence-based methods, as well as on how¿future play therapy research should be conducted. Edited by renowned experts in the field of play therapy, this rich compilation features contributions by child-centered play therapy researchers, with relevant discussion of: The history of play therapy research A synopsis of current empirical support Play therapy research on chronically ill children, child witnesses of domestic violence, and victims of natural disasters, among many other topics With coverage of important practice guidelines, Child-Centered Play Therapy Research identifies the most prominent and current play therapy research studies, as well as research directions for clinicians to design evidence-based research studies of their own.

What can child and adolescent counsellors and therapists learn from research? What evidence is there for the effectiveness of different therapies and techniques? How can developmental or neuroscience research inform or inspire therapeutic work with young people? This book provides the answers to these questions, and more. Leading experts in the field take you through the latest research findings in child and adolescent therapy, discussing how each is relevant to the work of practitioners. Today, both therapists and trainees need to be aware of, and engage with, research findings. The book presents, accessibly, the current best knowledge and its implications for practice.

Child Psychotherapy and Research brings together some of the most exciting and innovative research activity taking place within psychoanalytic child psychotherapy today. Drawing on the expertise of an international range of contributors, this book describes work at the cutting edge of research in psychoanalytic child psychotherapy and related areas. It presents many of the emerging findings while also illustrating a whole range of methodologies – both quantitative and qualitative – that have been developed to investigate this field. The book examines the historical and philosophical background of child psychotherapy research and shows how research illuminates different clinical phenomena, the processes of psychotherapy, its evaluation and outcome. Recent developments in therapeutic work with children, including the increased focus on evidence-based practice, make research a much higher priority in the field than ever before. With this increasing significance, a whole new generation of clinicians are required to become familiar and competent with research methods and research literature. Child Psychotherapy and Research will be a vital resource for anyone involved in research and training related to psychotherapy and child mental health, as well as of great interest to a range of mental health professionals.

What do we wish to know about psychotherapy and its effects? What do we already know? And what needs to be accomplished to fill the gap? These questions and more are explored in this thoroughly updated book about the current status and future directions of psychotherapy for children and adolescents. It retains a balance between practical concerns and research, reflecting many of the new approaches to children that have appeared in the past ten years. Designed to change the direction of current work, this book outlines a blueprint or model to guide future research and elaborates the ways in which therapy needs to be studied. By focusing on clinical practice and what can be changed, it offers suggestions for improvement of patient care and advises how clinical work can contribute directly and in new ways to the accumulation of knowledge. Although it discusses in detail present psychotherapy research, this book is squarely aimed at progress in the future, making it ideal for psychologists, psychiatrists, and all mental health care practitioners.