Creative CBT with Youth: Clinical Applications Using Humor, Play, Superheroes, and Improvisation

This book combines empirical support, clinical acumen, and practical recommendations in a comprehensive manner to examine creative augmentations to the robust cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) model. It discusses augmentations that are supported by research and practice and are also clinical-friendly tools. Each chapter briefly summarizes research findings, offers parsimonious explanations of theoretical concepts and principles, presents vivid descriptions of therapeutic procedures, and describes rich case illustrations. The book addresses the use of humor in CBT with youth, playful applications of CBT, applications of improvisational theatre in CBT and integrating superheroes into CBT.

• Building stronger, more flexible, and enduring alliances with children and adolescents to improve treatment retention and impact.
• Using humor and irreverent communication in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to enhance outcomes with adolescents.
Developing rapport between medical and psychosocial team members to alleviate stress during pediatric medical procedures and as an adjunct to therapeutic interventions.
• Cognitive behavioral play therapy (CBPT) with young children.
• Family-focused CBT for pediatric OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).
• Cognitive Behavioral Psychodrama Group Therapy (CBPGT) with youth.

This unique and compelling volume is an authoritative resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, therapists and other professionals as well as graduate students in developmental psychology, pediatrics, social work, child and adolescent psychiatry, and nursing.