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Mental health assessment of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in a service program and a treatment outcome research program
Author(s) -
Lieberman Alicia F.,
Van Horn Patricia,
Grandison Carina M.,
Pekarsky Judith H.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0355(199722)18:2<158::aid-imhj5>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - mental health , infant mental health , alliance , intervention (counseling) , context (archaeology) , psychology , mental health service , medicine , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , paleontology , political science , law , biology
This article describes the mental health assessment in preparation fortreatment conducted in two University‐based clinical programs that offerdyadic child‐parent psychotherapy as the treatment modality.The Infant‐Parent Program is a mental health program servingchildren between birth and 3 years of age and their families when the parent‐childrelationship is jeopardized by risk factors in the parent, child, or familycircumstances. The Child Trauma Research Project is an interventionoutcome research program serving preschool‐aged children and theirmothers when the child witnessed domestic violence. The programs sharea similar assessment approach emphasizing the importance of a working alliance,spontaneous parental reports, and observation of child‐parentinteraction in a variety of settings. However, their different functionsin terms of clinical service and research dictate appropriate modificationsin their respective assessment procedures. The two assessment protocolsand their rationale will be described in the context of the clinical andresearch goals of the programs. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health