Search results for ""Author Lois T. Flaherty""

A special section on adolescent substance abuse highlights Volume 29 of Adolescent Psychiatry. Contributions range from an examination of brain myelination in relation to onset of addictive disorders (Bartzokis) to the screening instruments used to detect substance use disorders (Rosner) to practical aspects of psychiatric assessment and management of substance abusing adolescents (Havivi). Topical studies focus on the changing patterns of use and health risks of the "designer drug" Ecstasy (Grob); the club drugs gamma-hydroxybutyrate and ketamine (Miotto et al.); and adolescent pathological gambling, a behavioral disorder with strikingly addictive features. Taken together, these illuminating essays converge in an appreciation of adolescent substance abuse and addiction in all their biopsychosocial complexity.Elsewhere in Volume 29, contributors review neuroimaging studies in an effort to shed light on adolescent psychiatric disorders (Day et al.); reevaluate the construct of borderline personality disorder as it pertains to adolescence (Becker & Grilo; Paris); and present the encouraging results of a pilot project on the psychodynamic psychotherapy of adolescents with panic disorder (Milrod et al.). A case series on the treatment of hospitalized adolescents who deliberately ingest foreign objects (Petti et al.) and a case study of the cross-cultural issues that arose in the therapy of an Asian American adolescent (Shen et al.) enlarge the clinical and cultural scope of the volume. True to the legacy of previous volumes in the series, Volume 29 of Adolescent Psychiatry brings within its purview all the elements of a multidimensional grasp of adolescent development, psychopathology, and treatment. Neuroscientific findings, empirical clinical studies, case series, and descriptions of clinical approaches all take their place in this illuminating and richly textured collection.

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The period of adolescence can be a time of great creativity, as new intellectual capacities emerge, and as the individual adolescent attempts to make sense out of inner and outer experience. Volume 30 of Adolescent Psychiatry addresses the ways in which adolescent experience is transmuted into creative artistic production, as well as focuses on the relationship between creativity and psychopathology, and treatment for troubled adolescents. With the links between adolescence and creativity in mind, the volume opens with an in-depth examination of a young boy’s creation of his own story of Polyphemus. This is followed by a fresh look at the adolescent influences behind Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. The next ten chapters comprise a special section devoted to creative solutions to some of the most challenging facing adolescent psychiatry. Here, numerous relevant studies are presented and conclusions drawn, as a whole addressing topics such as: an innovative residential treatment program for gifted adolescents who have failed academically and rejected previous attempts at treatment; motivational interviewing, a technique employed in the effort to find common ground between the therapist and patient; the importance of understanding adolescent sexuality and how to approach the topic with patients in an appropriate manner; and a discussion of the registration, commitment, and assessment of juvenile sex offenders. A final section investigates problematic examples of reactive attachment disorder, as well as treatment-refractory adolescent schizophrenia – when the medication doesn’t work.Volume 30 of Adolescent Psychiatry continues the wide-ranging scholarship and analytic sensibility that has been the hallmark of the series. Literary and artistic criticism reside comfortably between empirical research and case studies, all working together to broaden the horizon of research and application of psychiatric technique and theory for adolescence.

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Volume 26 of The Annals begins with essays that address the challenge of maintaining human connections in a biological century; Philip Katz focuses on the human encounter between therapist and patient whereas Vivian Rakoff emphasizes the continuing identity of the healer throughout history. Papers on adolescent development, which challenge readers to look beyond preconceived ideas, include Robert Galatzer-Levy's examination of adolescence as a social construction expressed in contradictory cultural narratives and Jack Drescher's exploration of the developmental narratives of gay men in order to illuminate the seeming invisibility of gay adolescents.A section dedicated to "Trauma, Violence, and Suicide" explores interventions with special groups of high-risk adolescents, including violent offendors, suicide attempters, and adolescent refugees. A special section on attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorders includes a debate on whether or not conduct disorder is actually a valid diagnosis. The final section of Volume 26 addresses social issues of continuing relevance to adolescent psychiatry: the juvenile death penalty and gays in the military. Reprinted here are the ASAP's position statements on these two issues along with its amici curiae brief in support of the petitioner in the landmark Supreme Court case of Thompson v. Oklahoma.Volume 26 of The Annals tracks the continuing evolution of adolescent psychiatry as it strives to keep pace with therapeutic and social responsibilities which, in the 21st century, have become increasingly intertwined. We have here a typically thoughtful compendium that, in drawing attention to the pressing issues before those who work with adolescents, highlights bith the field's achievements to date and the work that lies before it.

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