The incidence of emotional problems in high schools may be as high as twenty percent and it is not confined solely to those in special classes.
Aggressive behavior, suicide threats, substance abuse, and cutting are common events in schools today.
Typically, such students are referred to psychiatric hospitals, mental health clinics, special schools, or private practitioners.
Often these referrals offer only temporary assistance and the student returns to school exhibiting the same problematic behaviors.
In other cases community services are too expensive, families are lacking the necessary medical insurance, or do not want to send their children to a resource out of their neighborhood.
In such cases school-based mental health services may be helpful in allowing students with emotional problems to remain in school.
Administrators and school board members may question the wisdom of schools providing mental health services.
The primary mission of school is education of children, not psychiatric treatment, they insist.
Trained professionals needed to provide such treatment demand high salaries, often beyond the limits of school budgets.
Administrators may tend to view behavioral problems as primarily a disciplinary, not a treatment issue.
Despite this resistance, provision of psychotherapy and evidence-based psychological interventions may in the long run be a cost-saving strategy.
Schools that do not address a student's emotional problems when they interfere with learning may need to refer the child to costly special schools equipped to deal with emotional problems.
The home school district is financially responsible for the tuition charged by special schools.
Failure to accept this responsibility often leads to legal action in the form of a due process hearing with outcomes favoring the plaintiff.
Furthermore, school-based treatment may be more effective than community based programs.
A trained therapist within the school has access to teachers and classrooms and may be in a better position to observe and understand the student's behavioral or emotional problems.
Trained therapists can partner with teachers in imposing data collection, record keeping, and monitoring procedures and by making recommendations for classroom interventions.
Therapists will be more available to deal with crises such as panic attacks or behavioral "meltdowns" on the spot.
They can participate in staff meetings regarding the student and assist in formulating educational plans.
Trained therapists are able to recognize, identify, and diagnose emotional problems such as anxiety disorders and mood disorders, They are familiar with treatment strategies to deal with panic attacks, test anxiety, social anxiety, school phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression, low self-esteem and self-confidence.
They are familiar with newer techniques to increase student's resilience and coping mechanisms.
They are able to teach appropriate social skills to children with autistic spectrum disorders.
They can help students with attention deficit disorders improve their organizational skills, self-regulation, and study habits.
They can recognize the need for psychotropic medication and discuss these needs with families and outside family physicians or psychiatrists.
They can help in establishing liaison with community agencies when necessary.
They can advocate for students exhibiting behavioral problems when treatment rather than discipline is appropriate.
They can perform risk assessment to determine whether a child represent a danger to himself or others and help decide whether referral to a community psychiatric crisis center is warranted.
It is essential that in-house therapists work closely with counselors, administrators, and on-going school committees and avoid working in a vacuum.
They need to ensure that parental consent has been provided for their child being seen by a therapist.
It is not unusual for parents to withhold such consent, even though they are being provided without cost to the family.
Treatment without such consent can lead to lawsuits against the school district and therapist.
It is often the case that therapists recognize serious family problems that are beyond the province of a school based professional.
An important caveat is that the child, not the family, remain the primary focus of treatment in school.
Broader problems require referral and coordination with community social service agencies.
Mainstreaming of children in the least restrictive setting is mandated for children with mental challenges by federal and state regulations.
This option should also be available whenever possible to students with normal cognitive functioning but serious emotional problems.
Aggressive behavior, suicide threats, substance abuse, and cutting are common events in schools today.
Typically, such students are referred to psychiatric hospitals, mental health clinics, special schools, or private practitioners.
Often these referrals offer only temporary assistance and the student returns to school exhibiting the same problematic behaviors.
In other cases community services are too expensive, families are lacking the necessary medical insurance, or do not want to send their children to a resource out of their neighborhood.
In such cases school-based mental health services may be helpful in allowing students with emotional problems to remain in school.
Administrators and school board members may question the wisdom of schools providing mental health services.
The primary mission of school is education of children, not psychiatric treatment, they insist.
Trained professionals needed to provide such treatment demand high salaries, often beyond the limits of school budgets.
Administrators may tend to view behavioral problems as primarily a disciplinary, not a treatment issue.
Despite this resistance, provision of psychotherapy and evidence-based psychological interventions may in the long run be a cost-saving strategy.
Schools that do not address a student's emotional problems when they interfere with learning may need to refer the child to costly special schools equipped to deal with emotional problems.
The home school district is financially responsible for the tuition charged by special schools.
Failure to accept this responsibility often leads to legal action in the form of a due process hearing with outcomes favoring the plaintiff.
Furthermore, school-based treatment may be more effective than community based programs.
A trained therapist within the school has access to teachers and classrooms and may be in a better position to observe and understand the student's behavioral or emotional problems.
Trained therapists can partner with teachers in imposing data collection, record keeping, and monitoring procedures and by making recommendations for classroom interventions.
Therapists will be more available to deal with crises such as panic attacks or behavioral "meltdowns" on the spot.
They can participate in staff meetings regarding the student and assist in formulating educational plans.
Trained therapists are able to recognize, identify, and diagnose emotional problems such as anxiety disorders and mood disorders, They are familiar with treatment strategies to deal with panic attacks, test anxiety, social anxiety, school phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression, low self-esteem and self-confidence.
They are familiar with newer techniques to increase student's resilience and coping mechanisms.
They are able to teach appropriate social skills to children with autistic spectrum disorders.
They can help students with attention deficit disorders improve their organizational skills, self-regulation, and study habits.
They can recognize the need for psychotropic medication and discuss these needs with families and outside family physicians or psychiatrists.
They can help in establishing liaison with community agencies when necessary.
They can advocate for students exhibiting behavioral problems when treatment rather than discipline is appropriate.
They can perform risk assessment to determine whether a child represent a danger to himself or others and help decide whether referral to a community psychiatric crisis center is warranted.
It is essential that in-house therapists work closely with counselors, administrators, and on-going school committees and avoid working in a vacuum.
They need to ensure that parental consent has been provided for their child being seen by a therapist.
It is not unusual for parents to withhold such consent, even though they are being provided without cost to the family.
Treatment without such consent can lead to lawsuits against the school district and therapist.
It is often the case that therapists recognize serious family problems that are beyond the province of a school based professional.
An important caveat is that the child, not the family, remain the primary focus of treatment in school.
Broader problems require referral and coordination with community social service agencies.
Mainstreaming of children in the least restrictive setting is mandated for children with mental challenges by federal and state regulations.
This option should also be available whenever possible to students with normal cognitive functioning but serious emotional problems.