In the first case, it is mentioned that Jimmy had been demonstrating anxious behavior since the start of Year 5 that has intensified even more with the passage of time during the last two months. Although he is studying in the class that is according to his age group but he is still not able to show up as per requirement. This slow development in his academic grounds and as a result his teacher has serious concerns. The reason behind this lack of development of Jimmy in his academic grounds is the environment of his home and family. A conflict is going on between the parents of Jimmy, while both of them are unemployed as well. They quarrel with each other and swear in front of Jimmy. As a result, the environment of the home is very tense and this is adversely affecting Jimmy and his academic and behavioral development (Austin, 2000, pp.96).
People with peace of mind and peaceful environment tend to perform better in every field of life. The behavior of the humans, especially children is largely dependent on what they observe happening around themselves in their life. It is largely connected with the aspects of life that are easily observable and measurable. The development of the behavior of a child is a continuous process in which the child plays a relatively passive role.
Theoretical developments have greatly extended the range of children who can be helped by psychotherapy. Among current debates influencing practice are the distinction that can be drawn between mental deficit and mental disturbances; the optimal balance between family-based and individual treatments; indications for long-term intensive psychotherapy; methods of initial exploration which are helpful in engaging difficult-to-treat patients; the use of infant observation in clinical intervention; effectiveness of time-limited therapies; models of early intervention. The single most important idea that has influenced clinical practice is Bion's formulation of a theory of containment, following Klein's discovery of the psychic mechanism of projective identification (Carr, 2000, pp. 91-112).
The clinical usefulness of the container-contained model led to changes in technique which enabled child psychotherapists to treat severely deprived and traumatised children, including those who have been maltreated, and to develop methods of working with children with autism and other learning disabilities, and with borderline and psychotic conditions in children and adolescents. Recently developed specialisms include work with gender identity disorders, eating disorders, and adolescent sexual abuse of younger children. The more traditional base for child psychotherapy interventions was with children's anxiety states, conduct disorders, psychosomatic problems and relationship difficulties, and it is interesting to note that, as the capability to treat more severe conditions has expanded, the referral of the more 'neurotic' children for therapy has diminished (Fernández, 2002, pp. 1090-1094).
Child and Adolescent Assessment in Clinical Settings
The assessment of behavioural and mental disorders in children and adolescents is one of the longest standing practices in the field of psychology. Amongst its pioneers are Itard, Preyer and ...
