RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES

The REACH Institute has compiled a selection of resources that may help you learn more about children's emotional and behavioral disorders, and provide helpful information for parents, families, and professionals who care for our youth.  We have listed below links to various resources, including disorder profiles, treatment options, parent advocate training, and other REACH projects that might be useful if brought to your community.  Click on each link to learn more. 

Featured Items

Making the System Work for Your Child With ADHD Dr. Peter S. Jensen has written this invaluable guide for parents whose children suffer from ADHD. Here on the website you can buy Dr. Jensen's book from addwarehouse.com and make a $12.00 tax-deductible donation to the REACH Institute, all in one payment.  In addition, one-half of all royalties go to the parent and family support organization, CHADD. Purchase Dr. Jensen's book online. Also available for list price from most major booksellers

This book, "Making the System Work for Your Child with ADHD," is the first volume in a series of 6 books that help parents identify what they need to do to "make the system work" when they have a child with a particular behavioral, emotional, or learning problem.  Dr. Jensen is the series editor and author of the first book. 

In each of these books, powerful but practical advice is offered by parents who share their experiences with other parents of "what it takes" to make everything work, so that the child and family achieve their optimum potential.  To learn more about this book series, please click on the following link:  Book Series.

Get Smart About ADHD Report Card Dr. Peter Jensen has launched a new guide for parents of teens with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).  Available FREE by clicking on the link below, the   Get Smart About ADHD Report Card teaches parents how to monitor the impact of ADHD on their teen's life and gives easy-to-follow tips on how parents can help their teen excel in school, at home and at play. The Report Card also allows parents to "grade" themselves on their level of involvement and advises them on how to get more engaged in helping their teen cope with the

condition. To download this helpful tool, please click on the following link: Get Smart About ADHD Report Card.

Improving Children's Mental Health Through Parent Empowerment Working with experienced parent-advisors, Drs. Peter Jensen & Dr. Kimberly Hoagwood have edited a remarkable volume the distills down the most essential information that parents need to know to navigate the child mental health system, ranging from knowledge of specific conditions such as bipolar disorder, ADHD, and major depression, to understanding how parents can most effectively get their children the necessary educational and mental health resources needed to succeed, despite the challenges of having a mental health disorder.  To purchase this book

from Amazon click on the following link: Improving Children's Mental Health.

Profiles of Behavioral and Emotional Disorders

• Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are illnesses that cause people to feel frightened...  (Read more)

• Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Imagine living in a fast-moving kaleidoscope, where sounds, images, and   thoughts are constantly shifting... (Read more)

• Autism

Isolated in worlds of their own, people with autism appear indifferent and remote and are unable to form emotional bonds with others... (Read more)

• Bipolar Disorder

At least 2 million Americans suffer from bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness... (Read more)

• Conduct Disorder/Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Children with conduct disorder, CD, are those children who show persistent and serious patterns of misbehavior... (Read more)

Children with ODD show extreme levels of argumentativeness, disobedience, stubbornness, negativity, and provocation of others... (Read more)

• Depression

Depressive disorders come in different forms, just as in the case with other illnesses such as severity, and persistence... (Read more)

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Depressive disorders come in different forms, just as in the case with other illnesses such as severity, and persistence... (Read more)

Treatment Options

Please click on the following links for information on various medicational and therapeutic treatment options.

• Medications
  • Antipsychotics

  There are a number of antipsychotic medications available... (Read more)

  • Mood Stabilizers

  Mood stabilizers are most likely to be effective in treating manic excitement... (Read more)

  • Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

  Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, are a class of antidepressants... (Read more)

  • Stimulants

  Stimulants help many children focus and be more successful at school, home, and play... (Read more)

• Therapies
  • Behavioral Therapy

  Basic concepts of behavioral therapy were first used in the 1920s... (Read more)

  • Cognitive Therapy

  Cognitive therapy as it is practiced today was developed by Aaron Beck in the 1970s... (Read more)

  • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

  Cognitive-behavioral therapy combines many aspects of both cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy... (Read more)

  • Interpersonal Therapy

  Interpersonal therapy is a form of short-term psychotherapy... (Read more)

  • Family Therapy

  Family therapy is mainly used when a problem involves some form of family conflict... (Read more)

  • Individual Therapy

  Individual therapy is frequently done in combination with family or group therapy, and, when needed, psychopharmacology... (Read more)

Family Education and Support

Children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems deserve access to the best possible mental health care. Dr. David Fassler has complied a list of specific tips and suggestions, which parents may find help as they advocate on behalf of their child's health.

REACH Parent Support Projects

• Parent Empowerment Programs

Parent advocates are professional parents - often parents of children with mental illness - whose task it is to help parents of children with mental illness gain access to services and develop effective relationships with mental health providers or teachers.  Various projects, in New York, California, Texas, Utah, and Washington are now testing the effectiveness of a parent empowerment manuals and training with groups of parent advisors. The main goal of the these projects is to improve the communication between parents, providers, and teachers towards the delivery of high quality care to children with emotional and behavioral disorders. 

• Warning Signs Project

Despite well-documented levels of emotional and behavioral problems in the nation’s youth, studies have repeatedly shown that most youth with mental health problems are not identified and do not receive needed care.  The main goal of this federally supported project is to develop key warning signs of children's mental health problems.  These signs were developed through scientific data analysis and through feedback from nationwide focus groups with parents, teachers, providers, and adolescents.