Description: Mental Health Issues of Child Maltreatment offers a wealth of knowledge on the complex manifestations of developmental trauma and child maltreatment.
Brief description: Paul Thomas Clements is an Associate Clinical Professor. A psychiatric / forensic specialist, he is additionally a Certified Gang Specialist and Certified in Danger Assessment. His clinical experience includes serving as Assistant Director/Bereavement Therapist at the Homicide Bereavement Center at the Office of the Medical Examiner in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and he was appointed as the Director of Operations for the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health. He is an experienced therapist, forensic consultant, and critical incident/trauma response specialist with over 20 years experience in management/administration and crisis intervention. He was involved in the television and printed news media, as well as interviewed on National Public Radio (NPR), related to discussions regarding the offender, victims and survivors of the Virginia Tech shootings. Paul Clements has numerous publications and conference presentations regarding stress, trauma, violence and aggression, coping after violent death and exposure to interpersonal violence and crime. He is an Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse (APRN, BC) with national board certification as a Specialist in Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Nursing. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychiatric Forensic Nursing from The University of Pennsylvania.
Review Quotes:
Mental Health Issues of Child Maltreatment is an invaluable resource that offers the depth and breadth necessary to conceptualize the complexity of mental health issues surrounding child maltreatment. The text addresses the evolving science of neurobiological development of trauma in infancy; clinical manifestations of neurodevelopmental trauma; assessment and diagnosis of neurodevelopmental trauma; multifactor interventions; and prevention strategies at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Key points offered in every chapter directly compliment the richly detailed text. The authors evoke the complexity of accurately identifying and diagnosing child maltreatment and demonstrate how this difficulty may translate in a court of law. Finally, the text provides strategies and research priorities needed to address the science evolving around mental health sequelae of child maltreatment. This book should be read by any professional who wants to provide responsible child maltreatment services in primary care, community-based care, or within a forensic setting.
Stacy A. Drake, PhD, MPH, RN, AFN-BC, D-ABMDI
Assistant Professor
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Houston, TX
Child maltreatment is intrinsically complex, with many covert dynamics and serious consequences. Mental Health Issues of Child Maltreatment is an informative guide to relevant statistics, useful theories, and practical ideas for implementation by all those working in the child trauma and mental health fields. It unravels some of the interwoven ethical dilemmas in the field; explores working with both child victims and maltreatment offenders; and locates etiology, interviewing, and treatment within familial and societal contexts. This imperative resource gives one hope to engage in a positive manner within a daunting field.
Edith Kriel
Social Worker and Play Therapist
Executive Director
Jelly Beanz, Inc.
Cape Town, South Africa
Mental Health Issues of Child Maltreatment is a comprehensive review of the prevalence and clinical presentation of and various treatment approaches to this troubling issue. It provides both seasoned mental health professionals and students with substantial research data and clinical strategies suitable for clinical and school settings. Most importantly, this book highlights the role frequently played by child maltreatment in the formation of symptoms commonly encountered in clinical practice.
Harris Finkelstein, PhD
Psychologist
Concord Behavioral Health, Inc.
Wilmington, DE