This paper discusses two paradigms which shape the policies and programs involved in the provision of professional services for parents and children. The paradigm identified as most influential in this area in the past is characterized as incorporating an individualistic, pathological perspective. The programs associated with this paradigm are…

Described are multidisciplinary services provided for emotionally disturbed children (4-12 years old) at a Connecticut Mental Health Center. Reviewed are the following program aspects: admission policy, program design, discharge procedure, curriculum, parent counseling, and public school liaison. (CL)

This study investigated how college students change in the first year of college with respect to their emotional health and how aspects of the college environment affect students' emotional health. Data were drawn from the 200 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey completed by 269,413 students in fall 2000 and the 2001…

Autobiographies are typically included along with self-help books on resource lists for mental health clients. Although first-person narratives may have advantages of reader identification with the protagonist, little research has been done on this issue. One problem is that book categories overlap, e.g., some novels are autobiographical, and some…

Education is a central component of Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (MIRECCs) of Veterans Affairs. This paper focuses on the many components of education at the national level. The mission of the MIRECC initiative is to integrate all forms of scientific research and to quickly translate innovative findings and treatments…

Counseling centers from 87 four-year colleges and universities completed the College Counseling Center Role and Function Survey (CCRF). This survey is designed to measure agreement and disagreement, and rank 14 functions of a university counseling center in order of importance. Participants were asked to identify their top five responsibilities.…

All states have systems for mental health, public health, substance abuse, and child and adult welfare that have been in existence for many years. Treating clients across these areas is often prevented by the fact that each agency acts independently. As a result of the compartmentalization of community services, many clients fail to get the help…

In U.S. society dominance appears extremely desirable. The purpose of this study was an attempt to measure the relationship between dominance, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Research questions were: "Do the people who score high on the Dominance scale of the California Psychological Inventory have higher self-esteem scores as measured by…

There is no accepted definition and no adequate measure for the concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI). Some of the myriad issues surrounding EI are discussed here. One problem in the consideration of EI is the confusion between the terms "feelings" and "emotions." Differences between the two are examined and a working definition of feelings is…

Providing mental health services to children and youth has long been a tremendous challenge for communities. Numerous reports and studies demonstrate that children in Minnesota and across the nation struggle with a variety of unmet mental health needs. As a result, children are placed at great risk for failure in education, in the work force, and…

To increase the supply of mental health researchers from ethnic minority groups, in 1981 the National Institute of Mental Health initiated the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program which was renamed Career Opportunities in Research (COR). In this paper, the Program Director of the MARC/COR Program at California State University, Long…

This collection of papers presented at a 1996 conference on children's mental health focuses on the juvenile justice system. Papers have the following titles and authors: (1) "Delinquency and Mental Illness: The Intersection of Problems and Systems" (Carolyn S. Breda); (2) "Assessing the Mental Health of Adolescents in the Mental Health and…

While the role of values in psychotherapy has received increasing attention, little attention has focused on value congruence between client and therapist. To examine the relationship of specific religious beliefs and values to psychotherapy and mental health, 100 orthodox Christian and 104 nonorthodox and non-Christian college students completed…

Short-term therapy is effective by focusing the therapy and employing an interactive style. However, the imposition of an arbitrary termination date appears to be an overreaction and overcorrection to drawbacks of classical psychotherapy. According to Mann, a proponent of termination dates and short-term therapy, the setting of a termination date…

The state of Connecticut initiated a statewide program of systematic needs assessment for children's mental health services in 1986-1987. A stratified random sample of children ages 6 to 11 was drawn from registration lists of all public, private, and parochial schools. Of 79 schools, 56 were sampled, and 54 agreed to participate in the survey.…