Children develop within the context of caregiver--child relationships, each presenting with their own unique strengths, areas of growth, and compatibility of fit. Instead of the traditional viewpoint that child symptoms are generalizable across contexts and would emerge across relationships, the DC:0--5™: Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health…

Military deployments can necessitate prolonged family separations. The strain of separation is particularly acute for very young children and their parents. Reunions bring joy as well as challenges. The authors draw from their work with military families with young children to explore experiences of separating and reconnecting and the supports…

Little is known about the origins of anxiety manifested in the career counseling process. Through a case illustration, this article highlights the appropriateness of using functional family therapy (FFT) principles in career counseling sessions to assess the family dynamics involved in this issue. The discussion emphasizes seven suggestions: (1)…

Infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) practitioners working with infants and young children and their caregivers who are impacted by the trauma of separation, loss, and unpredictable reunification require access to reflective supervision/consultation (RS/C) to mitigate vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, and to ensure thoughtful…

The roles that pets play in the lives of college students have received little attention in the college counseling literature. This article will review four topics related to college students and pets that have implications for counselors: (a) the separation anxiety that students experience from not having their pets at college, (b) the…

As the cycle of deployments to war zones by military service members and other federal government employees continue, school psychologists likely have encountered or will encounter children in their schools who have been dealing with an absence of a parent for extended periods of time. While some school psychologists who live and work near major…

Few children have had the chance to travel alone anywhere, certainly not to the store or the playground. Few have the opportunity to get even a dash of street smarts: to practice getting themselves out of even a minor jam, to develop wayfinding skills, to navigate their neighborhood and choreograph their day--all valuable components of school…

Going to school is usually an exciting and enjoyable event for young children. However, for some it can cause intense fear or panic. Parents should be concerned if their child regularly complains about feeling sick or often asks to stay home from school with minor physical complaints. Not wanting to go to school may occur at any time, but is most…

In this reflective interview with Terry Friedrichs--a hands-on academic-learning specialist and researcher with gifted students with Asperger Syndrome--he defines these pupils, describes their "straightforward" and confusing traits, and recounts his initial and later instructional experiences with them over several decades. The piece…

Parent-toddler groups constitute a primary intervention programme whose target is to support and encourage the parent-toddler relationship. Toddlerhood is a developmental period when major, crucial changes take place regarding how children function, as well as their relationship to their parents (especially to their mother). The present paper…

School truancy--defined by a student's refusal to attend part or all of the school day, along with a defined number of unexcused absences--is an increasingly frustrating and complex problem for teachers and school administrators. Although statistics on the prevalence of truancy in the United States do not exist due to lack of uniformity among…

It is important to acknowledge from the outset that the work of a therapist is very intimate between therapist and client at any time. When children are the recipients of therapy, the intimacy of this relationship is intensified and extends directly to and impacts the child's parents or guardians. This is crucial with children who do not…

This article describes a model for supporting parents and their infants during separations due to temporary foster care. Using a case example, the authors describe a model for visit coaching, including their process for assessment and strategies used for intervention. The lessons learned are: (a) that individual parents can present very…

Two case reports are described in which patients presented for the treatment of multiple comorbid anxiety disorders, all of which appeared to derive from prolonged separation anxiety disorder. In particular, these adults had effectively altered their lifestyles to avoid separation, thereby displaying only ambiguous separation anxiety symptoms that…

Students' frustration with the lack of measurable progress in their practice has always been a major obstacle for them in learning to use themselves differentially and to effect changes in their clients (Saari, 1986). This article discusses the author's approach to tending to students' emotions as a central component in organizing and teaching in…