Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Bipolar Disorder at School

Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Bipolar Disorder at School presents child and education practitioners with an evidence-based framework for accurate identification, assessment, and intervention of bipolar disorder. This straightforward resource clears up misconceptions about the condition, and outlines its complex presentation in young people, where it may appear in tandem with other disorders and bring challenges to treatment. By providing information to assist in referrals, consultations, and recommendations for special education, the authors give the reader a unique vantage point for improving students’ learning environment and helping to facilitate the work of fellow professionals.

Among the topics:

• Prevalence and associated conditions.
• Case finding, screening, and referrals.
• Diagnostic and psycho-educational assessment
• Treatment of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents.
• Plus suggested resources to assist students and their families.

Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Bipolar Disorder at School is an essential reference for school psychologists and allied educational professionals, special education teachers, speech and language therapists, counselors, clinical child psychologists, and mental health practitioners.

Shelley R. Hart, Ph.D., is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University in the Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program, Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health.  Her research at Hopkins has focused on individuals with emotional and behavioral challenges, specifically those with bipolar disorder or with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Her academic preparation consists of undergraduate and graduate degrees in Psychology, with a Master of the Arts in Education from the California State University, Sacramento (school psychology credential) followed by a doctorate from the University of California, Santa Barbara in the Department of Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology.

Prior to her graduate studies, Dr. Hart spent a number of years in the mental health arena working with severely impaired individuals in psychiatric facilities or transitioning to the community.  Her desire to intervene earlier in the progression of mental health challenges led her to school psychology, and she practiced in schools in Northern California for several years. Dr. Hart has focused her career on children and youth with emotional and behavioral challenges, particularly the intersection between mental health and the educational context; that is, promoting successful experiences for this underserved population in the schools. Her scholarly activities include manuscripts, articles and book chapters, as well as local, state, and national presentations related to these topics.

Stephen E. Brock, Ph.D., is a Professor and the School Psychology Program Coordinator at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS). His professional preparation includes undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology, and a Ph.D. in Education (with an emphasis in psychological studies) from the University ofCalifornia, Davis, where he researched Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. 

A Nationally Certified School Psychologists (NCSP) and Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP), Dr. Brock worked for 18 years as a school psychologist with the Lodi Unified School District (the last 6 of which included assignment as Lead Psychologist) before joining the CSUS faculty. As a school psychologist he helped to develop the district's school crisis response protocol, served on an autism specialty team, and specialized in functional behavioral assessment.  

A member of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) since 1985, Dr. Brock currently serves as the Association's President-Elect, as a Contributing Editor to the Communiqué (the NASP newsletter), is on the Editorial Advisory Board of the School Psychology Review, is a member of the National Emergency Assistance Team, and is co-chair of the PREPaRE Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training Curriculum workgroup. In addition, he previously served as the California representative to the NASP Delegate Assembly, the Western Region Representative to the NASP Executive Council, and Coordinator of the Crisis Management Interest Group. He was the lead editor of the NASP publication Best Practices in School Crisis Prevention and Intervention and lead author of School Crisis Prevention and Intervention: The PREPaRE Model. 

At the state level, Dr. Brock is a past president of the California Association of School Psychologists (CASP). Previously, he served CASP as the Region X representative, the Employment Relations Specialist, the Convention Chairperson, was on the editorial board of CASP Today (the CASP newsletter), and was an Associate Editor of The California School Psychologist. 

Dr. Brock received NASP's Presidential award in 2004 and 2006, NASP's Crisis Management Interest Group's Award of Excellence in 2006 and 2007, CASP'sOutstanding School Psychologist award in 1997, the Sandra Goff Memorial Award in 2012; and the CSUS Outstanding Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity Award in 2013

Dr. Brock's academic work has included study of school-based crisis intervention; system level school crisis response; suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention; ADHD; functional behavioral assessment; violence prevention; threat assessment; reading; and autism. His curriculum vitae lists over 230 publications (including 15 book titles) and over 150 invited or refereed state/national/international conference presentations. Recently he was lead author of the books School Crisis Prevention and Intervention: The PREPaRE Model and Identifying, Assessing, and Treat ADHD at School. Currently in press is the second edition of Best Practices in School Crisis Prevention and Intervention (to be published by the National Association of School Psychologists). He is on the editorial board of the Journal of School Violence, and along with Dr. Shane R. Jimerson, is editor of a book series for Springer Science+Business Media titled Developmental Psychopathology Scientist Practitioner at School Series. Books from this series, which find Dr. Brock also playing an authorship role, include: Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Autism at School; Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at School; Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Dyslexia at School; Identifying, Assessing, and Treating ADHD at School; and Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Self-Injury at School. His books have been translated into Greek, Japanese, and Chinese.

Ida Jeltova, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist with extensive research and clinical experience working with individuals who are facing challenges with self-regulation.  Until recently Dr. Jeltova focused onresearch and teaching at the Graduate Center, City University of New York.  Starting in 2012, Dr. Jeltova is exclusively focusing on clinical work and advocacy for families with children with emotional and behavioral challenges. Her work combines biological and psychological dimensions and focuses on developing psychological interventions to optimize and harmonize child-family and child-environment match. Dr. Jeltova has extensive experience in working with adoptive families, including post-institutionalized and foster care children. She is an active member at the Adoption and Foster Care Therapist Network.