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22 - Outpatient Treatment for Persons with Mental Retardation
Book chapter

22 - Outpatient Treatment for Persons with Mental Retardation

Christine Maguth Nezu, Arthur M. Nezu and Lisa Dellicarpini
International Handbook of Cognitive and Behavioural Treatments for Psychological Disorders, pp 649-667
1998
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008043433-9/50024-9

Abstract

This chapter discusses the outpatient treatment for persons with mental retardation. Despite clear evidence that persons with mental retardation experience a full range of emotional and psychological problems, people with dual diagnoses of mental retardation and mental illness have experienced particular difficulty in receiving mental health services. Approaches involving social-learning and cognitive-behavioral strategies are clearly the forerunners as potentially effective alternatives concerning outpatient treatment. Treatment packages that are aimed at multiple targets of self-regulation may provide a particularly rich source of alternatives to consider while planning treatment. Additionally, many of these packages may be applicable for use with groups as well as individuals. The etiology of a mentally retarded individual's emotional difficulties is likely to be complex. Therefore, any attempt to explain psychopathology that focuses on a single phenomenon is likely to fall short of clinical reality. Further, those persons such as parents and teachers who would be most likely to refer a mentally retarded individual for an assessment of psychopathology might not do so because of their difficulty in differentiating mental illness from adaptive behavior problems associated with the mental retardation. As a means of optimally addressing client heterogeneity, as well as the complexities involved in the behavior change process of dually-diagnosed individuals, a problem-solving model of clinical assessment and treatment decision making is advocated. Within this framework, both diagnosis and behavioral analysis are parts of the overall assessment process; that is, combining accurate diagnosis and sound behavioral assessment procedures yields a more comprehensive picture.

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