| 12-step programs: A
system of recovery that that follows an evolving 12-step
rule program. |
| Accommodations (scholastic): Public
Schools are required to make adjustments to accommodate
children and adults with disabilities. |
| ADD: See Attention Deficit Disorder |
| Adderall: Stimulant
medication used to treat the symptoms of Attention Deficit
Disorder. |
| ADHD: See Attention Deficit Disorder
and Hyperactivity |
| Adjustment disorder: Conditions
with emotional or behavioral symptoms that are in response
to identifiable psychological and social stress. |
| Adolescence: The period from the
onset of puberty until the beginning of adulthood. |
| Affective Disorder: See Mood Disorders |
| Alcoholism: Addiction to alcohol. |
| Amphetamines: Drugs that produce
a euphoric high by stimulating and increasing the availability
of dopamine, causing increased arousal and excitement.
|
| Antisocial personality disorder:
A condition characterized by impulsive antisocial behavior
such as lying, stealing, and sometimes violence, and lack
of shame and guilt. |
| Anorexia Nervosa: Anorexia is
an eating disorder primarily in females that is characterized
by the inability to consistently maintain adequate body
weight, an intense fear of becoming obese, and an unrealistic,
negative body image. |
| Anxiety: Extreme apprehensiveness
related to uncertainty. |
| Anxiety Disorders: Anxiety disorders
can cause intense feelings of anxiety and tension even
when there is no apparent danger and the symptoms can
cause distress and Interfere with daily activities. |
| Asperger's syndrome: Asperger's
Syndrome, also known as Asperger's Disorder or Autistic
Psychopathy, is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)
that is characterized by severe impairment in social interaction
and the development of restricted and repetitive patterns
of behavior. |
| Attachment: The bond between infants
and their caregivers. |
| Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity)
Disorder (ADD/ADHD): A developmental disorder
that is characterized by inappropriate degrees of inattention,
hyperactivity, and impulsivity. |
| Autism: A childhood disorder that
usually appears before the age of 30 months that is characterized
by withdrawal, self-stimulation, language and learning
disorders. |
| Behavior: Directly observable
and measurable human actions. |
| Behavior modification: The use
of rewards or punishments to reduce or eliminate problematic
behavior, or to teach individuals new responses. |
| Binge eating disorder: People
with binge eating disorder, or compulsive overeating frequently
consume large amounts of food while feeling a lack of
control over their eating. |
| Biofeedback: Biofeedback is a
method of controlling bodily functions using electronic
equipment to continuously monitor a physical response,
such as breathing, and convert these measurements into
signals that a person can read and understand. |
| Bipolar Disorder / Manic Depression:
A mood disorder that involves extreme mood swings from
mania-high to depression-low. |
| Borderline Personality: An impulsive,
usually unstable personality style that is characterized
by social and relationship problems. |
| Bulimia: An eating disorder characterized
by the uncontrolled consumption of large amounts of food
(binging) followed by purging methods such as self-induced
vomiting or laxative abuse |
| Checklist: A list of symptoms
of a particular disorder. |
| Childhood Depression: Similar
to depression in adults, children may show depression
by being unable to enjoy activities that they once enjoyed,
complaining about physical ailments, or may seem bored
and have problems concentrating, among other symptoms. |
| Clinical Psychologists: Mental
health professionals who have earned a doctoral degree
in psychology and have received extensive clinical training. |
| Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT):
A form of psychological therapy that focuses on directly
changing both cognitive processes and behavior |
| Cognitive restructuring: A type
of cognitive therapy that teaches an individual how to
identify negative, irrational beliefs and replace them
with truthful, rational statements. |
| Cognitive Therapy: Any therapeutic
approach that teaches people new beliefs, new expectations,
and new ways of thinking. |
| Comorbidity: The presence
of co-existing or additional diseases or disorders |
| Compulsion: Repetitive behavior
or rituals. |
| Compulsive overeating: Compulsive
overeating is an eating disorder which involves binge
eating but without the purging aspects of bulimia. |
| Compulsive Personality: Individuals
who are unusually rigid in their behavior. |
| Conduct Disorder (CD): A persistent
pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others
and important social norms and rules are violated. |
| Co-occurring disorders: See Comorbidity
|
| Coping: Attempts by individuals
to deal with the source of stress and/or control their
reactions to it. |
| Counselor, LCPC: A Licensed Clinical
Professional Counselor is a mental health professional
trained in the application of psychotherapy techniques.
|
| Day treatment: Therapeutic or
medical treatment on an outpatient, daily basis. |
| Delusions: Systematized false
beliefs, often of grandeur or persecution. |
| Denial: A defense mechanism in
which a feeling or wish is blocked by the person because
the conscious admission of the thought or feeling would
be too painful. |
| Depressants: Drugs that reduce
the activity of the central nervous system, leading to
a sense of relaxation, drowsiness, and lowered inhibitions. |
| Depression: A mood disorder characterized
by extreme sadness and feelings of hopelessness. |
| Detoxification: The treatment
that is designed to free an addict from his or her addiction. |
| Development: The more-or-less
predictable changes in behavior associated with increasing
age. |
| Developmental Disorders: Serious
delays in the development of one or more areas of development
and functioning. |
| Diagnosis: The determination that
is made on the nature of a disease or disorder. |
| Diagnostic: Refers to something
that is used to determine the cause of an illness or disorder. |
| Disorder: An irregularity: disease,
ailment or disturbance. |
| Dopamine: A neurotransmitter involved
in various brain structures, including those that control
motor action. |
Drama Therapy / Psychodrama: Drama
therapy is defined by the National Association for Drama
Therapy as "the systematic and intentional use of
drama/theater processes, products, and associations to
achieve the therapeutic goals of symptom
relief, emotional and physical integration and personal
growth." |
| Drug testing: A method using urine
or blood to determine the amounts and the types of drugs
that are in an individual's body or bloodstream. |
| Drug therapy: A medical therapy
that uses chemicals to treat abnormal behavior. |
| DSM-IV: Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders: Fourth Edition. The American
Psychiatric Association's authoritative compendium of
differential diagnoses for psychiatric disorders. |
| Dyslexia: Describes a reading
disability that is characterized by impaired word recognition
or decoding skills or reading comprehension difficulties. |
| Eating disorder: A group of disorders
characterized by physiological and psychological disturbances
in appetite or food intake. |
| Educational Advocate: A person
who can serve as a go-between and an interpreter of the
laws of special needs students and who is an expert in
IEP evaluations and planning procedures and processes. |
| Educational Consultant: An educational
consultant is someone who advises on educational planning,
placement for at-risk students, and general counseling
on educational placement. |
| Educational Psychology: The field
in which principles of learning, cognition, and other
aspects of psychology are applied to improve education. |
| EEG Biofeedback Therapy: EEG biofeedback
therapy, also known as neurofeedback, is a type of biofeedback
therapy specifically utilizing brain-wave information |
| Emotional Disturbance / Behavioral
Disorder: A term to classify children who exhibit
extreme and/or unacceptable behavior problems. |
| Emotional Growth School: Emotional
growth schools are highly structured environments that
stress academics and teach coping skills. |
| Environmental Psychology: The
effects of the physical environment on behavior and mental
processes. |
| Experiential Therapy: A method
of therapy that is 'hands on' for both the therapist and
the individual being treated: some examples of this are
equine therapy and outdoor adventure programs. |
| Explosive Disorder: The failure
to resist aggressive impulses resulting in destruction
of property or other violent acts. |
| Exposure Therapy: A form of behavioral
therapy that slowly exposes a person to whatever triggers
their problem. |
| Family Therapy: A therapeutic
method that involves the entire family unit. |
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: A condition
affecting the children of mothers who consume large quantities
of alcohol during pregnancy; it can involve learning disabilities,
attentional
difficulties, and physical and emotional disability. |
| Flashback: An overwhelming memory
of an event or trauma. |
| Generic: A drug not protected
by a trademark; it signifies the drug's scientific name
rather than the brand name. |
| Group Therapy: Psychotherapy conducted
in groups. |
| Hyperactivity: Behavior, mostly
in children, that is marked by high levels of activity
and restlessness. |
| Hypomania: An episode in which
the individual experiences a mild form of mania consisting
of emotional highs, scattered thoughts, and over-activity.
|
| IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities
Act, which identifies specific categories of disabilities
under which children may be eligible for special education
and related services. |
| Identification: The tendency to
base one's identity and actions on individuals who are
successful in gaining satisfaction from life. |
| IEP: Individual Education Plan;
a written statement of a child's educational program that
identifies the school accommodations and services a child
needs so that he or she may grow and learn during the
school year. |
| Inhalants: Toxic substances that
produce a sense of intoxication when inhaled. |
| Inpatient treatment: Treatment
on a 24/7 basis in a residential or live-in facility. |
| Intelligence: The ability of a
person to reason, to learn from experience, and to cope
with daily living. |
| Intelligence Quotient (IQ): A
measure of an individual's intelligence potential based
on a set of norms derived from standardized tests. |
| Intervention: A clinical process
facilitated by a trained professional whose objective
is to interrupt the cycles of addiction in an individual.
|
| Language Disorder: A deficiency
or lag in the ability to express ideas or understand language. |
| Learning Disabilities: Impairment
in a specific mental process that affects learning. |
| Learning Specialist: Professional
who assesses people to determine if they have learning
disabilities or are eligible for Special Education, and
provides remedial help to them. |
| Life Events: Psychologically significant
events that occur in a person's life, such as divorce,
childbirth, or change in employment. |
| Mania: A mood disorder characterized
by racing thoughts, pressured speech, irritability or
euphoria, and marked impairments in judgment. See Bi-polar
disorder. |
| Manic-depression:
See Bi-Polar Disorder |
| Marriage Therapy: A form of treatment
in which a therapist treats both husband and wife and
the partnership as a whole. |
| Maturation:
Systematic physical growth of the body, including the
nervous system. |
| Medication trial: In medication
therapy, a trial period that tests the dosages and the
effects of any new medication that is introduced. |
| Medication therapy:
Treating diseases or disorders through the use of medications. |
| Modeling: Learning based on observation
of the behavior of another. |
| Mood Disorder: Psychological disorders
such as depression and bi-polar that involve depression
and/or abnormal elation. |
| MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging;
a safe imaging technique utilizing magnetic resonance
used to obtain detailed views of brain structure and function. |
| Multi-modal treatment: Multi-modal
treatment or therapy is a combination of both medication
and behavior modification. |
| Narcotics: Powerful and highly
addictive depressants. |
| Neurofeedback: Also known as EEG
Biofeedback Therapy, it is sometimes used to improve attention
control abilities. |
| Neurotransmitters: Chemical substances
produced by axons that transmit messages across the synapses. |
| NIH: The National Institutes of
Health. |
| Nutrition Therapy: A method of
treating disorders and diseases through the use of carefully
monitored nutritional diets. |
| Obedience: Doing what one is told
to do by people in authority. |
| Obsession: Repeating and persistent
thoughts, impulses, and images that are unwanted and case
anxiety or distress. |
| Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD):
This disorder is characterized by anxious thoughts or
rituals. |
| Occupational Therapy: Occupational
therapists evaluate, treat, and consult with individuals
whose abilities to cope with the tasks of everyday living
are threatened or impaired by physical illness or injury,
psychosocial disability, or developmental deficits. |
| Opiates: Narcotic drugs derived
from the opium poppy. |
| Oppositional Defiant Disorder:
A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior. |
| Outdoor therapy: Programs in which
adolecent participants are placed by parents or custodial
authorities to change distructive, disfunctional, or problem
behaviors, through clinically supervised theraputic activities
in outdoor settings. |
| Outpatient treatment: Treatment
where patients are not required to stay overnight at the
facility. |
| Panic attacks/panic disorder:
A stress-related, brief feeling of intense fear that causes
physiological reactions such as rapid heartbeat, rapid
breathing, and dizziness. |
| Paxil: An antidepressant medication |
| Perception: The process of organizing
and interpreting information received from the outside
world. |
| Personality: The typical ways
of acting, thinking, and feeling that makes each person
unique. |
| Personality Disorders: Psychological
disorders characterized by personality patterns that cause
the inability to get along with others. |
| Phobia: Abnormal and persistent
fear of very specific situations or things. |
| Positive reinforcement: A consequence
of behavior that in turn leads to an increase in the probability
of that behavior's reoccurrence. |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):
An anxiety disorder in which symptoms develop following
an extremely distressing event such as sexual assault
or military combat. |
| Psychiatric Social Workers: Trained
mental health professionals who understand the effects
of environmental factors of mental disorders. |
| Psychiatrists: Mental health professionals
who have earned their M.D. degree, psychiatrists are experts
in medication therapies, diagnoses, psychotherapy, or
psychoanalysis. |
| Psychologist: A professional who
holds a degree in psychology and is licensed to furnish
diagnostic, assessment, preventative, and therapeutic
services to individuals. |
| Psychosis / Psychotic Disorders:
An extreme disorder marked by distorted perceptions of
reality and n many cases accompanied by hallucinations
and delusions. |
| Psychopharmacology:
The management of psychiatric illness using medication
such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, and anti-anxiety
medications. |
| Psychotherapy: The treatment of
mental disorders, emotional problems, and personality
difficulties through talking with a therapist. |
| Psychoanalysis: A method of psychological
treatment that emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts. |
| Psychoanalytic Method: The means
to bring forth unconscious motives and conflicts into
the consciousness. |
| Psychoeducational Diagnostician:
Mental health professionals who provide assessments and
make recommendations for the treatment of ADD and/or learning
disabilities. |
| Psychotherapist: A mental health
professional such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, social
worker, or counselor who practices psychotherapy. |
| Puberty: The stage
in physical development at which the individual is first
physically capable of sexual reproduction. |
| Reactive attachment disorder (RAD):
A disturbance that involves social interactions due sometimes
to the result of the neglect of the child's basic physical
and emotional needs. |
| Recovery: Personal process of
discovery, release, and change in the lives of an individual,
whether recovering from addiction to substances, compulsion,
or some other dysfunction. Generally, Recovery (with a
capital "R") refers more to the results of the
12-Step Program and self-help support groups that follow
that method. |
| Recovery programs: A systematic
method to facilitate and create continuity in the recovery
of individuals. |
| Rehabilitation: To restore to
good health or useful life, as through therapy and education |
| Remedial education: Education
that focuses on fixing deficiencies, teaching basic skills
and content mastery. |
| Residential Treatment Program:
The definition of an RTP varies from state to state, however
it can be defined as a facility operated for the primary
purpose of providing residential psychiatric care to individuals. |
| Residential Treatment School:
A residential treatment program or school provides a full
professional staff that includes therapists, psychologists,
and psychiatrists |
| Ritalin: A stimulant medication
used to treat ADD. |
| School Phobia: An inappropriate
fear of attending school, causing anxiety. |
| School Psychologist: A psychologist
who aids schools by testing children to determine eligibility
for placement in special education programs and who consults
with teachers and parents. |
| Sedatives: Depressants that in
mild doses produce a state of calm relaxation. |
| Self-medication: Self-treatment
of disturbances and disorders using medications, drugs,
and alcohol among other methods. |
| Separation Anxiety: Intense anxiety
experienced by children whenever they are separated from
their parents. |
| Sleep disorders: Any of a variety
of disturbances of sleep. |
| Social norms: Guidelines provided
by every culture for judging acceptable and unacceptable
behavior |
| Social Phobia: Anxiety caused
by social or performance situations. |
| Social skills training: The use
of techniques of operant conditioning to teach social
skills to persons who lack them. |
| Special Education: Resource programs
and all other special accommodations that support, modify
or supplement the standard education program of public
school. |
| Speech Disorders: Unintelligible
or impaired oral communication. |
| Stimulant: Drugs that increase
the activity of the central nervous system, providing
a sense of energy and well-being. |
| Stress: Any event or circumstance
that strains or exceeds an individual's ability to cope. |
| Substance Abuse: The continued
use of alcohol or other drugs even while knowing that
the continued use is creating problems socially, physically,
or psychologically. |
| Support groups: Any group without
a physician that offers support and help through common
experience to an individual; examples are 12-step programs,
Internet support groups, and Weight Watchers. |
| Therapeutic Residential Boarding School:
Fully accredited schools with emotional growth programs |
| Therapeutic Wilderness Program:
A method of experiential therapy that challenges the individual,
helps promote cooperation, and helps build self-esteem. |
| Trauma: The psychiatric definition
of "trauma" is "an event outside normal
human experience." It is a sudden and potentially
life threatening event. See Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
|
| Tourette's Syndrome: Tourette's
Syndrome is a neurobiological disorder characterized by
involuntary tics and/or inappropriate vocal outbursts. |
