In recent years the escalating costs of health care have caused managed care programs to shift the delivery of pediatric psychological services away from specialized medical centers and into primary care and school settings. One result has been a radical expansion of school psychology into issues of clinical intervention, health promotion, and the assessment of psychotropic medications. School psychologists are now expected to either deliver or (more likely) to provide consultation regarding a wide variety of pediatric psychological services. Because this is a recent phenomenon, very few school-based psychologists or allied health practitioners (school counselors and social workers) have received training in pediatric psychology. The mission of this book is to provide them with a comprehensive and authoritative guide to their newly acquired responsibilities in such areas as psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, health promotion, and prevention of disease.
This book is appropriate for anyone concerned with issues of pediatric psychology in school settings: school psychologists, pediatric psychologists, clinical child psychologists, as well as pediatricians and child psychiatrists.