Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment of Foster and Adopted Children; A Guide for Parents and Practitioners [Perfect Paperback]

Christopher J. Alexander (Author), Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2009

As a group, foster and adopted children are at greater risk for developing mental health problems than are other youth. Trauma, abuse, neglect, loss, and abandonment can result in numerous psychological problems, and thus we see elevated rates of mental health diagnoses being assigned to these kids and teens. This typically includes ADHD, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Many others meet the criteria for longstanding conditions such as autism, learning disorders, or mental retardation. Child psychologist, Christopher J. Alexander, Ph.D. acquaints the reader with how mental health diagnoses are determined and given to foster and adopted children. He identifies the risk factors for developing a mental health condition and spells out the different treatment options currently being used with these children and their families. Foster and adoptive parents will gain a better understanding of what the different diagnostic terms mean, as well as options for helping their child.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher J. Alexander, Ph.D. works as a child psychologist in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. In his private practice, Dr. Alexander works primarily with foster and adopted children and their families, providing a range of professional services. This includes psychological and neuropsychological evaluations, parent-child bonding assessments, pre- and post-placement consultation, clinical supervision, and professional training. Dr. Alexander serves as an expert witness for District Courts on child welfare matters, including child placement, termination of parental rights, sibling placement, mental health diagnosis, and parent-child bonding. Dr. Alexander frequently presents at child welfare conferences, addressing issues of diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. Dr. Alexander is on the Board of Namaste Child and Family Development Center, an organization in New Mexico which provides treatment foster care and outpatient clinical services. He is also Adjunct Faculty at Southwestern College in Santa Fe. Dr. Alexander is author of the book, Welcome Home: A Guide for Foster, Adoptive, and Treatment Foster Parents.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: Christopher J. Alexander, Ph.D. & Associates; 1st edition (March 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615271545
• ISBN-13: 978-0615271545
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,256,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher J Alexander, PhD is a child psychologist in private practice in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Dr. Alexander specializes in the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of foster and adopted children and their families. In addition to providing clinical services, Dr. Alexander offers expert witness testimony on attachment, bonding, child/sibling placement, termination of parental rights, abuse and neglect. His website is: www.alexanderphd.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Suffers from self-publishing, March 28, 2009

By 

Psychological Art - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment of Foster and Adopted Children; A Guide for Parents and Practitioners (Perfect Paperback)

This book attempts a great deal in terms of coverage of assessment and diagnosis of foster and adopted children. Unfortunately, it just does not deliver what it intends.

Books that try to present a guide to both consumers-- in this case parents-- and professional practitioners invariably try to do more than is possible. Thus the language and style of this book does not quite make for a solid text. I kept wishing the author had decided which population this book was directed to. I also kept wishing that the author had not bit off more than could be chewed in a book of this nature. The material presented is not completely up to date; I found I cannot use this text with graduate students or as a desk reference because of this flaw and the limited perspective presented.

Lastly and sadly, this book is self-published. Therefore it suffers from lack of peer review-- a thorough peer review via a respected publisher is really necessary for a book of this nature and scope. Professional literature that involves coverage of diagnosis and assessment-- well, it is a must to have it thoroughly reviewed and vetted by other professionals before publication. Perhaps this book's contents and style will undergo such review in the near future and an improved version will come back on the market.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Diagnosis, Assessment & Treatment of Foster and Adopted Children, May 27, 2009

By 

Nichoe Lichen "Adoption Social Worker" (Santa Fe, New Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment of Foster and Adopted Children; A Guide for Parents and Practitioners (Perfect Paperback)

As a clinician who works with adoptive families I appreciated the simple language and clear decision paths Dr. Alexander provided in this text. This book will be helpful to clinicians as well as adoptive parents striving to understand the issues affecting the adoptee before them. It explains which approaches will be most helpful to take and in what sequence to utilize them.

While all children are unique, there are treatment themes that are more commonly seen in the adoption population. Precious time may be wasted in treatment if this is not recognized. Adoptees and their parents deserve the knowledgeable and effective support that this book offers.