Books for Therapists on Working with Children
The books listed below have the objective of making you comprehend and reflect on the nature and experiences of children, a crucial action to any therapist, even if they don’t work with children. Some of them are also designed to help you deal with common mental health afflictions of children, presenting diagnostics, descriptions and treatment options. That being said, be prepared to embrace your inner child and apprehend the struggles, obstacles and joys of being a kid.
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“The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog” by Bruce Perry
Doctor Bruce Perry is a seasoned child psychiatrist that wrote a compilation of different cases that have in common the experience of trauma by the patient as a child. With neurobiological explanations as to who the brain manages to heal after such impactful and horrific experiences, Perry shed light on the ways in which science can help when it comes to healing a child who is suffering.
“The Drama of the Gifted Child” by Alice Miller
In this moving and extraordinary book, author Alice Miller suggests a new meaning to the expression “gifted child” that doesn’t define genius or talented kids, but rather those who have survived an abusive childhood. In this piece of literature, Miller dives into how repressed anger and sadness can influence greatly the adult lives of traumatized children, and aims to act as a guide to letting go of this prejudicial feelings to live by your own truth.
“Defiant Children” by Douglas A Riley
Parents of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder can often feel frustrated and hopeless, but this book by experience psychologist Douglas Riley poses as a true guide on how to understand the oppositional behavior of their children and learn potent ways to change their attitudes. Identifying the source to this disorder is never easy, but with Riley’s assistance, it may very well be.
“The Explosive Child” by Ross W. Greene
Top of the field clinician Ross Greene has the objective of helping out parents that have great difficulty dealing with their explosive child, in this educational and clever book. Drawing from his experience as a researcher and psychotherapist, Greene explains how children that respond exaggeratedly and aggressively to small problems are actually lacking some important emotional skills, and how parents can teach them what is needed.
“No Drama Discipline” by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
This book takes a biological approach to the well-known problem to parents that are meltdowns and tantrums, often followed by a dramatic scene. By providing insight into how instruct your child without shouting or fighting, Siegel and Bryson intend to teach parents the strong connection between children’s developing brains and the way caregivers discipline them.
“Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents” by Lindsay C. Gibson
Sometimes, the natural order of elements is distorted, and the parents end up being the immature individuals in the relationship with their child. When that happens, the child often feels abandoned and neglected, so author Lindsay Gibson addresses this issue with the main objective of helping these individuals gain a better understanding of their parents and manage to rise above difficult situations from their childhood.
“The Child Psychotherapy Treatment Planner” by Arthur E. Jongsma, L. Mark Peterson, William P. McGinnis, and Timothy J. Bruce
A time-saving resource, fully revised to meet the changing needs of mental health professionals The Child Psychotherapy Treatment Planner, this manual provides all the elements necessary to quickly and easily develop formal treatment plans that satisfy the demands of HMOs, managed care companies, third-party payors, and state and federal agencies. The book is organized around 35 behaviorally based presenting problems including academic problems, blended family problems, children of divorce, ADHD, and more, and presents over 1,000 prewritten treatment goals, objectives, and interventions plus space to record your own treatment plan options
“104 Activities that Build” by Alanna Jones
This popular book makes teaching and learning by playing games a simple and fun experience for everyone, encouraging people to modify their behavior, increase interaction with others, start discussions and build relationships. This book contains 104 games and activities that address the topics of teamwork, self-esteem, communication, coping skills, anger management, and self-discovery. If you have a small group, large group or even one-on-one sessions there is something useful in here for you. Games that can be used in any setting with minimal resources!
“Therapeutic Activity Ideas for Children and Teens” by Lindsey Joiner
For difficult or challenging children and teenagers in therapeutic or school settings, creative activities can be an excellent way of increasing enjoyment and boosting motivation, making the sessions more rewarding. This resource provides over one hundred tried-and-tested fun and imaginative therapeutic activities and ideas to unleash the creativity of children and teenagers. Employing a variety of expressive arts including art, music and film, the activities are designed to teach social skills development, anger control strategies, conflict resolution and thinking skills. The activities can be used in many different settings with all ages, are flexible, and can be adapted for use with individuals or groups.
“Helping the Non-Compliant Child” by Robert J. McMahon and Rex L. Forehand
This popular treatment manual presents an empirically validated program for teaching parents to manage noncompliance in 3- to 8-year-olds. Practitioners are provided with step-by-step guidelines for child and family assessment, detailed descriptions of parent training procedures, effective adjunctive treatment strategies, and complete protocols for conducting and evaluating the program. Nationally recognized as a best practice for treating conduct problems, the program is supported by a substantial body of treatment research.
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“Treating Anxious Children and Adolescents: An Evidence-Based Approach” by Ronald Rapee, Ann Wignall, Jennifer L. Hudson and Carolyn A. Schniering
This handbook offers mental health professionals clear, detailed guidelines for effectively treating children and adolescents suffering from anxiety disorders, the most frequently experienced type of mental disorder in children and adolescents.
“The Pre-Referral Intervention Manual” by Stephen McCarney
The Pre-Referral Intervention Manual (PRIM) provides a direct response to state mandated pre-referral intervention activities. It may be used by a teacher or group of educators, such as a Teacher Assistance Team, to develop a comprehensive plan of intervention strategies for a student. The Pre-Referral Intervention Manual (687 pages, 2014) should be included in each school’s professional library and made available to principals, special educators, regular educators, and guidance counselors involved in pre-referral activities.
“Collaborative Home and School Interventions” by Gretchen Gimpell-Peacock and Brent R. Collet
Parents can be invaluable partners in identifying students’ behavioral and learning needs and developing effective solutions. This book provides practical tools for collaborating with families to achieve the best outcomes for students. In a large-size format with lay-flat binding for easy reference and photocopying, the book includes more than 40 ready-to-use reproducibles. School-based mental health professionals will learn how to build positive home/school relationships, actively involve parents in assessment and intervention, and overcome barriers to collaboration.
“Responding to Problem Behavior in Schools” by Deanne A. Crone, Leanne S. Hawken, Kaitlin Bundock and Robert H. Horner
Now revised and expanded with the latest research and adaptations for additional target behaviors, this is the gold-standard guide to Check-In, Check-Out (CICO), the most widely implemented Tier 2 behavior intervention. CICO is designed for the approximately 10-15% of students who fail to meet schoolwide behavioral expectations but who do not require intensive, individualized supports. The book includes step-by-step procedures and reproducible tools for planning and implementation. At the companion website, purchasers can download and print the reproducible tools and can access online-only training materials, sample daily progress reports, and an Excel database for managing daily data.
“Conducting School-Based Functional Behavioral Assessments” by Mark W. Steege, Jamie L Pratt, Garry Wickerd, Richard Guare and T. Steuart Watson
Widely recognized as a gold-standard resource, this authoritative book has been revised and expanded with 50% new material. It provides a complete introduction to functional behavioral assessment, complete with procedures, forms, and tools that have been piloted and refined in both general and special education settings. Numerous vivid examples illustrate how to use the authors’ behavior-analytic problem-solving model (BAPS) to synthesize assessment results and guide the design of individually tailored interventions. Practitioners and students enjoy the engaging, conversational tone.
“Effective School Interventions” by Natalie Rathvon, Matthew K. Burns, T. Chris Riley-Tilman
This indispensable course text and practitioner resource, now fully revised, has helped tens of thousands of readers implement evidence-based interventions to improve students’ academic achievement and behavior in PreK-12. The volume presents best-practice guidelines and step-by-step procedures for 83 interventions that can easily be implemented by teachers and other school-based professionals. It is a go-to book for those working in a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) or response-to-intervention (RTI) framework. User-friendly features include recommended print and online resources and 10 reproducible forms.
“The Developing Mind” by Daniel J. Siegal
This highly influential work gives clinicians, educators, and students a new understanding of what the mind is, how it grows, and how to promote healthy development and resilience. Siegel synthesizes cutting-edge research from multiple disciplines, revealing the ways in which neural processes are fundamentally shaped by interpersonal relationships throughout life. And even when early experiences are not optimal, building deeper connections to other people and to one’s own internal experience remains a powerful resource for growth. Professors praise the book’s utility in courses from developmental psychology and child development to neuroscience and counseling.
“Windows to Our Children” by Violet Oaklander
With over 300 pages of methods, materials, techniques for working with children and adolescents, transcripts, case examples and discussion, this book filled a void in the child therapy literature. Counselors and therapists, in schools, mental health centers and private practice embrace this book. It is the largest selling book on the subject in the world.
“Resilienzfördernde Psychotherapie für Kinder und Jugendliche: Grundbedürfnisse erkennen und erfüllen” von Marcel Schär und Christoph Steinebach
Resilience has become a central issue in psychotherapy with children, adolescents and families in recent years. The authors show how targeted resilience promotion succeeds: In addition to the essential importance of fulfilling basic needs, they point out the special features of resilience development in different age groups and in different phases of the therapy process.
“Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie” von Helmut Remschmidt und Katja Becker
With this book you will understand the mental disorders in childhood and adolescence holistically. It offers you the prerequisites for all diagnostic and therapeutic measures – based on the different living environments of children and young people.
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