Title: Child psychotherapy: Integrating developmental theory into clinical practice.

Series: ISBN: 978-0-8261-0673-5

Author: Adler-Tapia, R

Genre: Client, Therapist

Publisher: New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company

Release Date: 2013

Pages: 312

Robbie Adler-Tapia’s Child Psychotherapy: Integrating Developmental Theory Into Clinical Practice aims to create a developmentally grounded approach to child psychotherapy. In this work, she emphasizes the importance of remaining cautious and even hesitant in arriving at the conclusion of pathology as a psychologist or psychiatrist. An essential aspect of this text is the focus on the assimilation of developmental theories into the practice of child psychotherapy, while accentuating the significance of the etiology of a certain child’s symptoms before arriving at a pathological diagnosis. The text focuses on the comprehensive work done by developmental psychologists in relation to the field of child psychotherapy.

Although Adler-Tapia’s work primarily focuses on the treatment of children, it clearly emphasizes that her theories apply to people of all ages. Certain childhood experiences may have interfered with an adult’s healthy development, and these past experiences may drive the lingering symptoms that occur at an older age.

Offering an alternative to the medical model of pathology, this book strives to inform therapists who work with children how to integrate developmental theory into their clinical practice. This amalgamation mandates that the therapist “conceptualize psychotherapy from a multimodal approach through the lens of human development” (p.173) Considering every facet of the child’s life, such as the developmental stage the child is in, the family system in which the child lives, etc. leads to an exploration and understanding of the origins of the symptoms that are being exhibited by the child.

Also essential in this work are the theories that investigate the interface between a child’s external and internal worlds, the impact the environment has on the child, and how a child constructs schemas conducive to his or her experience of living. In addition, the resources a particular child has, any interference in the child’s healthy development, and the child’s primary caregivers’ support all help the therapist to explore the etiology of the problem(s) at hand.

With this integrative protocol, therapists who treat children that have faced challenges early on in life can successfully attempt to place them back on a healthful trajectory.