So, what does this all mean? Youth mental health care needs to be delivered by people who already spend lots of time with them in their everyday lives. We need caring people who can provide enough small doses of “good stress” through existing relationships in the real-life situations facing our youth. Who are these people who can help address this youth mental health crisis? Parents and teachers!
Our work at Think:Kids is focused on helping youth with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges by teaching the adults in their lives an evidence-based approach called Collaborative Problem Solving. Behavior challenges rarely occur in isolation. Instead, problematic behaviors like defiance and aggression often happen alongside other issues. They are often the first sign that something is wrong. Behavioral challenges reflect underlying skills deficits across various diagnoses, including mood, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorders, not just disruptive behavior disorders like ADHD.
Through our work, we have shown that parents, teachers, and other adult caretakers can learn and practice an evidence-based approach to mental health care that can be used in everyday life. Our research has proven that when adults practice Collaborative Problem Solving with kids across a wide range of diagnoses, their specific symptoms lessen. In fact, how they are doing overall improves—not just behavioral difficulties. How does it work? The Collaborative Problem Solving approach builds and strengthens relationships, decreases conflict and stress, and builds neurocognitive skills, which improves mental health functioning broadly.
There is no one or simple solution to the current youth mental health crisis. But the answer cannot be simply training more clinicians or solely relying on digital tools. We must rethink the very methods by which we deliver mental health care. Teaching evidence-based approaches to parents and teachers is a powerful way to help address our kids’ mental health needs.
Pollastri, AR, Wang L Eddy, CJ, Ablon, JS. An Open trial of Collaborative Problem Solving in a naturalistic outpatient setting. Clinical Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 00, 2022, 1-13.
A version of this article originally appeared on Psychology Today.