Fix My Kid!
Working professionally with children and their families can be challenging, frustrating and rewarding. For those families that have a motivation and openness to addressing family dynamic issues much can be accomplished toward a positive and enduring change in the family system functioning. At other times, families are less willing or able to explore issues systemically (this would consist of considering and incorporating all family members, their inter-relationships and how it all contributes to dysfunction within system). More times than not, those “closed” family types present for mental health treatment with desperate and unrealistic expectations for treatment; their mantra frequently being, “Fix My Kid!”
As most mental health professionals realize, "fixing" a person’s emotional, behavioral and mental health is impossible; helping people through understanding, teaching, guiding, insight, etc offers opportunities for change and growth but this requires work, effort, commitment, consistency, and an overall belief that a person's attitude and behavior change is not only good but perhaps necessary for a healthy family change. One of many variables influencing this “Fix My Kid!” mentality is information. In this age of information explosion about child and adult mental health, people have much more information available to them. Some of the information is well-founded based on clinical research, some is speculation, and some is opinion. The filtering out of valid and invalid information rarely occurs so the average person has information that may or may not be accurate. Nevertheless, this information gives the layperson ideas about “effective” treatment options. This is especially evident in the area of pharmaceutical treatment for children with behavioral problems.
There is a phenomenon in the U.S. occurring to prescribe adult anti-psychotic medications to children with extreme behavior problems. This is very disconcerting to those of us who have or do work with children; what are the side-effects of these meds, what are the long-term consequences both psychologically and physically, how do families interpret this treatment focus, etc? For more about the use of these medications in children link to Adult Anti-Psychotic Meds & Children. Just a cautionary note for those providing services to children and families, the quick fix plan is rarely the best long-term effective treatment intervention.
As most mental health professionals realize, "fixing" a person’s emotional, behavioral and mental health is impossible; helping people through understanding, teaching, guiding, insight, etc offers opportunities for change and growth but this requires work, effort, commitment, consistency, and an overall belief that a person's attitude and behavior change is not only good but perhaps necessary for a healthy family change. One of many variables influencing this “Fix My Kid!” mentality is information. In this age of information explosion about child and adult mental health, people have much more information available to them. Some of the information is well-founded based on clinical research, some is speculation, and some is opinion. The filtering out of valid and invalid information rarely occurs so the average person has information that may or may not be accurate. Nevertheless, this information gives the layperson ideas about “effective” treatment options. This is especially evident in the area of pharmaceutical treatment for children with behavioral problems.
There is a phenomenon in the U.S. occurring to prescribe adult anti-psychotic medications to children with extreme behavior problems. This is very disconcerting to those of us who have or do work with children; what are the side-effects of these meds, what are the long-term consequences both psychologically and physically, how do families interpret this treatment focus, etc? For more about the use of these medications in children link to Adult Anti-Psychotic Meds & Children. Just a cautionary note for those providing services to children and families, the quick fix plan is rarely the best long-term effective treatment intervention.
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