Response to Pills First
Read this article:
Relative to this whole subject of the medicating of children with behavioral issues (which often show up first or mostly at school).
Imagine you are a clinician working with an 8 year-old boy who lives alone with his single mother after a contentious divorce. Imagine you are at a school meeting for this child, where you are sitting with the boy’s mother, the school principle, school counselor, and the boy’s teacher.
Your client’s teacher has called for the meeting: She says that she cannot keep your client on task, he is often un-focused, and shows high distractability (the same complaints that the mother has about home life). The school counselor says that the boy meets criteria for ADHD and is recommending a medication consultation. Mother, who herself often appears overwhelmed, exhausted, and quite fed up, seems to understandably be favoring this approach which is often touted as an effective ‘fix’ in information that lay-people can access.
Now, knowing what you know (both from the above article and likely elsewhere), i.e., that behavioral modification FIRST is more effective than “Pills First,” write a dialogue with the members of this school meeting explaining the importance of addressing the behavior first and foremost, before the biology. The challenge here is to explain this in a respectful manner without the use of mystifying language. Whether or not your client’s mother ends up being persuaded (which will only emerge for you in your own unfolding of this dialogue) will not be a measure of your success.
End your writing by letting us know about your process and your reflections on this issue, once the dialogue is behind you.
