Many children around the world have to live with different childhood disorders such
as
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant
disorder (ODD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). Living with such conditions heavily affects the quality of a
child’s life and is a major disruption to his daily functioning.
اضافة اعلان
Parents will, in
such case, try to make the best choice regarding treatment of their child, to
help care not only for the physical but for the mental health of the child as
well.
Some of the most
common treatment plans for different childhood disorders include a combination
of medication and behavioral therapy.
Resorting to
medication, especially in the case of children, remains a controversial
decision, and many parents have reservations about allowing their children to
take it to manage their symptoms, mainly due to the side effects. While it is
true that medication can help manage symptoms, one of the main arguments
against is that as soon as the child stope taking it, or he decides that he no
longer wants to take it, which many teenagers do, the benefits stop. This is
where behavioral therapy steps in; it helps teach parents different parenting
skills and techniques, and teaches children how to improve their behavior.
What is behavioral therapy and how does it work?
The goal of behavioral therapy is to help treat a mental health
condition or help children manage their symptoms to improve their functioning
at home, school, and in the community.
It is common for
child therapy to include the parents in various ways: through the therapist
working with the parents alone or with the parent and child together. The
therapist might even ask to work with other important adults in the child’s
life, such as their teachers.
When the therapy
is more parent focused, it usually includes the parents talking to the
therapists about their child’s behavior and working on different parenting
techniques that can be used to deal with that behavior. Likewise, working with
the parents, the therapist often works with the child one-on-one in various
ways that can include talking, playing, or any other way that can help the
child express his thoughts and feelings. This can also be done in groups, with
the therapist working with several children at the same time. Sometimes even a
combination of therapies might be more effective in helping the child.
Research in Jordan
Stigma often surrounds the topic of
mental health in Jordan, in the
Middle East in general. This leads to little being known about the rates of
bias, stigma, patient satisfaction, and the effects of psychotherapy in our
region. However, there have been some promising studies about the future of
mental health treatment in Jordan.
A 2019 study
published in the
National Library of Medicine investigated the view of hosts
and Syrian refugees on psychotherapy in Jordan. Results showed a high overall
satisfaction rate with the services provided and the perceived benefits of
psychotherapeutic interventions. However, participants in the study showed
ambivalence regarding the presence of bias or stigma, which could be a result
of the conversation surrounding the topic still not taking place at national
level despite the work being done.
Another study
published in Counselling Psychology Quarterly focused on testing the
feasibility and acceptability of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
(TF-CBT) that is implemented by Jordanian counselors working in schools and
child protection organizations. The study also aimed to examine the effect of
TF-CBT on reducing the PTSD and depressive symptoms on a sample of
Jordanian children with a history of abuse. Results of the study indicated a significant
possibility of implementing TF-CBT in Jordanian culture, where most of its
components where accepted and positively evaluated by children, parents, and
counselors. However, the study found that parents agreed that their involvement
must be in accordance with the parent’s gender, where mothers should be with
their daughters and fathers with their sons. This is due to the limitations of
Jordanian culture on having free involvement between parents and children of
different genders.
Parent-child interaction therapy
A common type of therapy centers
on parent-child interaction. It aims to help parents learn how to better
interact with their child, be able to spot their child’s triggers, and manage
his behavior. It also helps improve the bond between the child and parents. In
this type of therapy, parents receive on-the-spot coaching from a therapist,
usually through an earpiece, who guides them on how to handle their child’s
behavior. Studies have shown that this type of therapy, regardless of its
length and location, helps significantly reduce parent and child-related
stress.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
CBT is one of the most commonly applied type of therapy used by a
therapist with a child. Its goal is to teach the child how his thoughts can
lead to feelings that affect his behavior. Children learn to identify any
harmful and distorted thinking patterns and replace them with healthier ones to
help improve their mood and behavior.
CBT is usually
the type of therapy used when dealing with a child with PTSD, as it focuses on
the traumatic experience that a child has gone through, and works on helping
him experience all the appropriate emotions and manage triggers. CBT is also
sometime referred to as talk therapy.
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)
Usually DBT is used for high-risk cases, such as children or
adolescents with suicidal thoughts or ideation. It uses a combination of group
and individual therapy that offers and focuses on teaching children different
coping strategies, as well as any necessary skills that enable them to handle
extreme emotions and conflict.
DBT teaches
mindfulness, effectiveness, stress tolerance skills, and emotional regulation.
The main difference between DBT and CBT is that DBT focuses more on the
relationship between acceptance and change and finding a balance, while CBT
focuses on thought patterns and their redirection.
Applied behavioral analysis (ABA)
ABA is a type of interpersonal therapy that focuses on rewarding
desirable behaviors to increase their frequency, while simultaneously
minimizing unwanted behaviors. It teaches behavior in real-life settings and
addresses communication skills, self-management skills, and learning skills in
children. It is commonly used as an early form of therapy for children with
autism spectrum disorder. Some of the main ABA principles are that behavior is
affected by the environment, and that behavior changes are more effective when
positive consequences are used rather than negative ones, because behavior is
either strengthened or weakened by its consequences.
Play therapy
Play-based intervention utilizes a playroom as a safe space for children
to process their feelings and help support their positive change in behavior
and attitude, and improve their overall functioning. It allows children to use
toys, games, drawings, puppets, and building blocks, which help the therapist
observe and identify themes or patters and gain insight into a child’s issues.
Sometimes play therapy is more child-centered, in the belief that a child
should lead his own healing through exploring the play environment. Play
therapy can be very useful for children with behavioral issues such as ODD or
conduct disorder.
Family therapy
Therapy can also include the
child, the parents and even the siblings, which mainly allows the therapist to
observe their interaction and communication patterns, in order to provide the support
and education necessary to resolve conflict and improve the family dynamic and
function. Usually family therapy can be used to help family members cope if a
relative has a serious mental health illness, such as
schizophrenia, or even in
cases of addiction.
Therapy can have a life-changing impact on a child’s
mental health, and can help improve his functioning as well as his ability to
cope with stress and develop healthy thinking and behavior patterns. However,
it is vital that parents do the research necessary and work with a licensed
mental health professional, in order to develop the most suitable treatment
plan for the disorder their child is living with.
Fear of stigma and believing that mental disorders
can solve themselves or do not require professional intervention will only make
the road longer and harder.
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