This fourth book in the Prevention Practice Kit introduces the topic of prevention groups and illustrates how to apply that definition to real-world settings for counselors, psychologists, mental health workers, and prevention specialists working with groups in schools, hospitals, community organizations, and private practice. Readers will find practical suggestions on how to design, conduct, and organize prevention groups such as psychoeducational groups, group-centered prevention groups, and therapy prevention groups. Examples from research, along with case study examples, help to illustrate important concepts in both theory and practice.

This fourth book in the Prevention Practice Kit introduces the topic of prevention groups and illustrates how to apply that definition to real-world settings for counselors, psychologists, mental health workers, and prevention specialists working with groups in schools, hospitals, community organizations, and private practice. Readers will find practical suggestions on how to design, conduct, and organize prevention groups such as psychoeducational groups, group-centered prevention groups, and therapy prevention groups. Examples from research, along with case study examples, help to illustrate important concepts in both theory and practice. This book is part of the Prevention Practice Kit: Action Guides for Mental Health, a collection of eight books each authored by scholars in the specific field of prevention and edited by Dr. Robert K. Conyne and Dr. Arthur M. Horne. The books in the collection conform to the editors′ outline to promote a consistent reading experience. Designed to provide human services practitioners, counselors, psychologists, social workers, instructors, and students with concrete direction for spreading and improving the practice of prevention, the series provides thorough coverage of prevention application including a general overview of prevention, best practices, diversity and cultural relevance, psychoeducational groups, consultation, program development and evaluation, evidence base, and public policy. This book is endorsed by the Prevention Section of the Society of Counseling Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Fifty percent of all royalties are donated to Division 17 of the APA.

This book presents the concept of group-centered prevention and provides explanations and exercises for learning the method and teaching it to others. Detailed studies offer evidence for the continuing importance of prevention in mental well-being and distinguishes group-centered prevention from other group interventions by its ability to resolve incipient mental health issues and emotional problems. Case examples with adults, children, couples, and others demonstrate successful uses of group-centered techniques as well as illustrate the problems that arise in group settings. The book's ready-to-apply training exercises give prospective group leaders practice in starting new groups, fostering cohesion, integrating therapeutic factors into sessions, and other core skills. Featured topics include: Group-centered prevention in contrast with other group interventions. Characteristics of effective leaders in group-centered prevention. Benefits of prevention groups as opposed to those gained in counseling and therapy. Key constructs of self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation in group-centered prevention. Stages of development in new groups. Formats for developing training exercises. Group-Centered Prevention in Mental Health is an essential resource for scientist-practitioners, clinicians, and researchers as well as graduate students in such disciplines as school psychology, social work, and public health. Its educational uses span classroom, workshop, and training settings across the health and healing disciplines.

All across the United States, individuals, families, communities, and health care systems are struggling to cope with substance use, misuse, and substance use disorders. Substance misuse and substance use disorders have devastating effects, disrupt the future plans of too many young people, and all too often, end lives prematurely and tragically. Substance misuse is a major public health challenge and a priority for our nation to address. The effects of substance use are cumulative and costly for our society, placing burdens on workplaces, the health care system, families, states, and communities. The Report discusses opportunities to bring substance use disorder treatment and mainstream health care systems into alignment so that they can address a person's overall health, rather than a substance misuse or a physical health condition alone or in isolation. It also provides suggestions and recommendations for action that everyone-individuals, families, community leaders, law enforcement, health care professionals, policymakers, and researchers-can take to prevent substance misuse and reduce its consequences.

This book helps educators produce assessments of their schools' drug and violence prevention programs. It contains over 30 separate resources that can be adapted to specific evaluations (e.g., sample youth and adult participant feedback sheets, sample classroom observation sheets and teacher implementation logs, sample en-route participant feedback, sample teacher surveys of curriculum content, data summary logs, sample student risk surveys, and sample parent consent forms). There are also guidelines, glossaries, and advice on online funding. The 12 chapters are: (1) "Getting Started: Establishing Your Work Group"; (2) "Writing Goals and Objectives"; (3) "Program Review, Selection, and Implementation"; (4) "Creating Homegrown Programs: Elements of Effective Prevention"; (5)"Additional Data Collection: Preparing for Assessment of Program Effectiveness"; (6) "Self-Report Questionnaires and Focus Groups: Collecting Information From Students"; (7) "Cost and Time Effectiveness"; (8) "Experimental Design: The Basics"; (9) "Experimental Designs for Different Program Types"; (10) "Crunching Your Numbers and Organizing Your Data"; (11) "Public Presentation of Your Results"; and (12) "Troubleshooting Your Results." (Contains 29 references.) (SM)

Fueled by demands for reform of social and educational programs and pressured for solutions to increasing social problems among youths, social policy experts have turned to the promising effectiveness of school-based prevention programs. School-Based Prevention Programs for Children and Adolescents reviews and evaluates the design and impact of such programs, pointing out in particular those exemplary prevention efforts that have worked and thus advance knowledge in the prevention field. In addition to tracing the development of basic theories and practice, the author discusses the factors that assist or hinder program implementation and offers specific examples to illustrate how effective programs can be modified to work. He also focuses on understanding the school as an integral social and organizational structure and its special role in prevention programs. This volume covers a broad range of prevention programs - including prevention of behavioral, social, and academic problems as well as education in substance abuse and health - and looks to model school-based prevention programs as a step toward future prevention efforts.

Provides practitioners with the information they need to prepare their communities for prevention programming & to select & implement drug abuse prevention strategies that effectively address the needs of their local communities. The target audience for this document includes prevention program administrators, prevention specialists, community volunteers, community activists, parents, teachers, counselors, etc. Contents: intro. to selective prevention; intro. to & key elements of the strengthening families program; & implementation of the strengthening families program. Appendixes on skills training programs for parents, children & families.