Understanding child health and wellness through a holistic lens. Complementing his book for professionals, here Scott Shannon equips parents and caregivers with a better way to understand the mental health challenges their children face, including how cutting-edge scientific concepts like epigenetics and neuroplasticity mean new hope for overcoming them. Readers learn how the most common stressors in kids—inadequate nutrition, unaddressed trauma, learning problems, family relationships, and more—are often at the root of behavioral and emotional issues, and what steps can be taken to restore health and wholeness, without immediately turning to medication.

Behind Closed Doors tells the story of two mothers who began investigating serious health issues in their own son and daughter—and ended up writing an expose about the declining health of an entire generation of American children. In their relentless attempts to improve the health of their own children, they uncovered harmful trends in our food, pharmaceuticals, and environment, all stemming from weak laws and conflicts of interest. What they discovered shocked and ultimately empowered them to get actively involved in questioning and reforming these harmful, out-of-balance practices, and to inspire other moms to do the same. Behind Closed Doors not only offers scientifically verified evidence of how declining industry practices are harming our kids, but showcases solutions like environmental medicine and other integrative health practices, shares personal success stories, and provides tools and solutions parents can immediately implement—equipping and inspiring us all to stand together for change.

"This book builds upon my early work and the work and others by offering a comprehensive guide to practitioners interested in facing and helping to heal trauma and manage the drama systemically with a special focus on children and adolescents. The FST Model is a contribution to the fields of trauma, family sciences, and human development practice." --Charles R. Figley, PhD; Kurzweg Chair in Disaster Mental Health at Tulane University in New Orleans This is the first book that addresses trauma treatment for child and adolescents using a Family Systems Trauma (FST) model which goes beyond individual therapy to include the child and their entire family. Co-written by a renowned family therapist who created the Parenting with Love and Limits® model, it delivers a research-based , step-by-step approach that incorporates the child’s immediate family along with their extended family to treat the traumatized child or adolescent. Using a "stress chart," the child or adolescent's trauma symptoms are quickly identified. This strategy guides therapists in accurately diagnosing root causes of the child's trauma and culminates in the creation of co-created "wound playbooks" to heal trauma in both the child as well as other family members. Additional helpful features include extensive case examples, a menu of trauma techniques, wound playbook examples, evaluation forms, client handouts, and other practical tools to provide the therapist with a complete guide to implementing this approach. Child and family therapists, social workers, mental health counselors, and psychologists working in a variety of settings will find this book a valuable resource. Key Features: Provides a step-by-step, practice focused, time-limited model Uses a family systems approach for addressing child and adolescent trauma--the only book of its kind Includes useful tools such as checklists, client handouts, and evaluation forms

According to some reports, about half of all adults and children have one or more chronic health conditions. One in four adults has two or more chronic health conditions. And, sadly, these numbers continue to grow at an alarming rate. The Holistic Rx offers the reader with one or more chronic health conditions or symptoms easy-to-follow evidence-based approaches to healing their ailments by targeting inflammation and its underlying root causes. Dr. Madiha Saeed covers the foundations of good health like digestive health and detoxification, and the Four Big S’s (stress management, sleep strategies, social and spiritual health), along with disease-specific supplements homeopathy, acupressure, aromatherapy, , other holistic remedies to achieve lasting good health and wellness. The first part of the book addresses the root of chronic illness—inflammation—and examines its underlying causes and possible treatment approaches that focus on the whole body rather than just the affected area. In the second part of the book, she first advises the reader on adjusting their holistic approach to their health conditions based on their individual needs. Then, after briefly describing various integrative approaches, she provides an A-to-Z guide to holistic and integrative treatment of over 70 chronic illnesses, conditions, and symptoms. For each condition, she outlines a healing plan that begins with digestive health and detoxifications and the four S’s specific to that organ system and covers the additional alternative, holistic, and complementary approaches that are most effective for that condition. This ready resource will help the whole family address their most common complaints and promotes a healthy, balanced lifestyle that focuses on overall wellness.

A leading pediatric psychiatrist shows clinicians a holistic, full-spectrum approach to children’s well-being. Every child possesses enormous untapped potential, and yet the number of kids suffering from mental illness today seems to creep ever upward. Depression, anxiety, ADHD, OCD, oppositional defiant disorder, anger issues—you name it—are increasingly prevalent, leaving clinician’s offices packed with worried parents and caregivers, wondering how they can help their children. In this book, child psychiatrist Scott Shannon offers a refreshing new path for practitioners who are eager for a more optimistic view of children’s mental health, one that emphasizes a child’s inherent resilience and resources over pathology and prescriptions. “What is mental health?” Shannon explores the fundamental question, showing that an innate desire for balance—a wholeness—between brain-body-mind lies at the heart of wellness. Such a balance can’t be achieved by medication alone, but requires a broad, full-spectrum understanding of children’s lives: their diet, social skills, sleep habits, their ability to self-regulate, to find meaning and purpose in life, and their family relationships. Stress, trauma, and poor nutrition are some of the most common barriers to wholeness in kids’ lives, and Shannon carefully examines these and other barriers, and what the latest discoveries in neuroplasticity and epigenetics tell us about their ability to overcome them. Readers will learn how to perform a different sort of assessment—one that identifies patterns of imbalance and obstacles to health in a child’s life—as well as how to build a meaningful, effective treatment plan around these deficits, and how clinicians can best position themselves to respond effectively. The second part of the book looks at eight of the most common childhood mental health issues—ADHD, depression, behavioral problems, anxiety and OCD, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, autism spectrum disorders, and trauma and PTSD—and a variety of effective complementary treatment tools for each, including dietary changes, nutritional supplements, specific cognitive or behavioral therapies, parenting interventions, medications, and more. Step-by-step treatment plans are included to guide clinicians on how best to approach each presenting problem. Mental Health for the Whole Child combines modern science, cutting-edge psychology, integrative medicine, and clinical wisdom to offer all professionals who work with kids a new, more hopeful way forward.

Understanding child health and wellness through a holistic lens. Complementing his book for professionals, here Scott Shannon equips parents and caregivers with a better way to understand the mental health challenges their children face, including how cutting-edge scientific concepts like epigenetics and neuroplasticity mean new hope for overcoming them. Readers learn how the most common stressors in kids—inadequate nutrition, unaddressed trauma, learning problems, family relationships, and more—are often at the root of behavioral and emotional issues, and what steps can be taken to restore health and wholeness, without immediately turning to medication.

Raising a child with mental illness is complex by itself, but the way society views and treats mental health issues makes it even harder. In Life in the House of Cards: Parenting a Child with Mental Illness, author Dr. Irene Abramovich talks openly about painful issues encountered by children with mental illness and their parents, including educational struggles, medical challenges, parenting issues, and the effect on other siblings and partners. Life in the House of Cards shares testimonies of parents of mentally ill children and offers insights about all aspects of mental illness in children. With this book, Dr. Abramovich: - defines the work of child psychiatry - discusses the loss of the "perfect child" and accepting the mental illness diagnosis - shares strategies for getting help for the child - shows how to navigate the opposing and often confusing medical diagnosis - talks about the public perception of children with mental illness - discusses the choice of whether or not to treat that mental illness Geared toward parents, Life in the House of Cards communicates that importance of recognizing that mental illness is as much of a medical condition as any other disease. It shows that parents are not alone in their struggles, and that support and help is available.