There are four key elements inherent to any psychiatric assessment and interview of children, namely the clinical description, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning. The clinical description stage implies discovering the main concerns of the child and their parents and determining how their behavior differs from their peers’ (Macleod et al., 2017). The diagnosis stage involves analyzing the information about the child and making conclusions about the cause of the issue, and identifying the possible condition. The prognosis means making a prediction about the possible future behavior of the child under certain conditions. Finally, treatment planning involves utilizing the previously collected information to create a plan to treat the child’s condition and to assess the effectiveness of the intervention.
The Role Parents Play in the Assessment of the Child
Parents can provide important information about the child’s behavior and problems that they have observed. Parents are usually the first people to report about the child experiencing issues. An assessment implies contacting parents and conducting an interview with them to obtain basic information about their concerns (Macleod et al., 2017). Parents are a source of invaluable knowledge, and they can enable specialists to understand the further direction in their work with the child. During interviews with parents, professionals can discover the history of the child’s development, their preferences and dislikes, behavioral deficits, and other important facts. Additionally, during the assessment process, the clinician can gain insight into the relationship between the child and their parents.
The Steps Needed if the Child Discloses Information About the Parent(s) Engaging in Illicit Behavior
When a child discloses information about their parents engaging in illicit activities, professionals need to perform several steps. First of all, they need to gain a basic understanding of the situation described by the child. Next, they must provide the child with emotional support and avoid asking them ant excessive information (Morrison et al., 2018). Then, the counselor needs to report it to the police, sheriff’s department, or child protective services. The aforementioned services will be tasked with conducting the rest of the procedures to protect the child.
References
Macleod, E., Woolford, J., Hobbs, L., Gross, J., Hayne, H., & Patterson, T. (2017). Interviews with children about their mental health problems: The congruence and validity of information that children report. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22(2), 229–244.
Morrison, S., Bruce, C., & Wilson, S. (2018). Children’s disclosure of sexual abuse: A systematic review of qualitative research exploring barriers and facilitators. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 27(2), 176–194.