Preventive Mental Health at School: Evidence-Based Services for Students

Some engage in high-risk behaviors. Others need help with emotional skills. Many are affected by mental disorders. While every school has its share of students needing comprehensive mental health services, personnel struggle to address these needs effectively in an era of scarce resources and dwindling budgets. Preventive Mental Health at School gives school-based practitioners and researchers an accessible, nuanced guide to implementing and improving real-world proactive programs and replacing outmoded service models. Based firmly in systems thinking and an ecological-public health approach, the book outlines the skills needed for choosing evidence-based interventions that are appropriate for all students, and for coordinating prevention efforts among staff, educators, and administration. As schools become more and more diverse, school-based practitioners must become knowledgeable in regard to the critical racial and cultural differences that affect students, their families, and enrich our schools. Research currently available to help meet the needs of various groups of children and their families is included as each topic is addressed. In addition, the author provides a theoretical groundwork and walks readers through the details of assessing resources and needs, applying knowledge to practice, and evaluating progress. Instructive case examples show these processes in action, and further chapters address questions of adapting programs already in place for greater developmental or cultural appropriateness. Included in the coverage: Student engagement, motivation, and active learning. Engaging families through school and family partnerships. Evidence-based prevention of internalizing disorders. Social emotional learning. Adapting programs for various racial and ethnic populations. Adapting programs for young children. Preventive Mental Health at School offers solid guidance and transformative tools to researchers, graduate students, and professionals/practitioners/clinicians in varied fields including clinical child and school psychology, social work, public health and policy, educational policy and politics, and pediatrics.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Providing Preventive Services in Schools.- Chapter 2. Locating and Selecting Evidence-Based Preventive Curricula and Programs.- Chapter 3. Student Engagement, Motivation, and Active Learning.- Chapter 4. Engaging Families Through School and Family Partnerships.- Chapter 5. Organizational/Systems Change.- Chapter 6. High Risk Behaviors and Mental Health.- Chapter 7. Evidence-Based Prevention of Externalizing Disorders.- Chapter 8. Social Emotional Learning.- Chapter 9. Evidence-Based Prevention of Internalizing Disorders.- Chapter 10. Implementation Fidelity Versus Adaptation.- Chapter 11. Adapting Program for Various Racial and Ethnic Populations.- Chapter 12. Adapting Programs for Young Children.- Chapter 13. Tools for Prevention Work in Schools.- Chapter 14. Prevention in Action.

About the Author :
Gayle L. Macklem, MA, NCSP, LEP, is a nationally certified school psychologist and a Massachusetts-licensed educational psychologist. She has served in the field of education for more than 30 years. A former president of the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association (MSPA), she serves as the Technology Chairperson of the state association. She is an instructor in the School Psychology Specialist and Doctoral Training Programs at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology in Boston. She writes curricula and writes on topics of interest to educators. She is a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences. Ms. Macklem is the author of Springer’s Evidence-Based School Mental Health Services: Affect Education, Emotion Regulation Training, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (2011); Practitioner's Guide to Emotion Regulation in School-Aged Children (2008); and Bullying and Teasing: Social Power in Children’s Groups (2003).