Summary
Adults often treat children and adolescents as “mini adults,” expecting immediate understanding, compliance, and performance. Their brains, emotions, and attachment systems are still developing from childhood through the transition to adulthood, and their behaviors frequently serve as forms of communication rather than intentional resistance or manipulation. This workshop equips psychologists, licensed mental health professionals, medical personnel, and ministry leaders to understand how cognitive, emotional, and relational development shapes behavior and clinical presentation. Participants will be introduced to the practical STOP–LOOK–LISTEN UP framework to help participants work with parents to pause reactivity, assess meaning, and respond with compassion. Participants will examine an overview of how conditions such as ADHD, ODD, DMDD, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder emerge within this developmental context, highlighting distinguishing features and common comorbidities. At the end of the session, participants will focus on treatment planning, presenting faith-informed for willing Chrisitan clients, evidence-based strategies that honor the parent–child relationship, strengthen the therapeutic alliance, and incorporate skills training, school collaboration, and medical consultation when appropriate. Participants will gain actionable strategies for developmentally informed, ethically grounded, and faith-sensitive clinical practice.
Learning Objectives
Describe three key aspects of cognitive, emotional, and attachment development from childhood through young adulthood and explain how these influence behavior and clinical decision-making.
Apply the STOP–LOOK–LISTEN UP framework to at least one youth case vignette to reframe behavior from “defiant/manipulative” to developmentally informed communication.
Differentiate among common conditions (e.g., ADHD, ODD, DMDD, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder) and outline a basic, faith-sensitive, ethical treatment plan that includes parent engagement, skill-building interventions, and criteria for psychiatric/medical consultation.