February 7, 2024

Choosing the Right Treatment for Your Child: Evidence-Based Practices

Trying to decide which treatments would provide the best outcomes for your child can be a difficult and overwhelming process. You want your child to receive the most effective treatment option but what determines whether or not a treatment is effective?

Trying to decide which treatments would provide the best outcomes for your child can be a difficult and overwhelming process. You want your child to receive the most effective treatment option but what determines whether or not a treatment is effective? If it worked for other children with similar problems, will it work for your child? Is there research or evidence to support the effectiveness of this treatment?

All of these questions are important and relevant questions to ask yourself when it comes to finding the right treatment for your child. Although it is strongly recommended to address these questions and concerns with your child’s clinician, one way to learn more about effective treatments is by familiarizing yourself with Evidence-Based Practices (EBP).

What are Evidence-Based Practices?

Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) are well-established treatments because they are strongly supported by evidence from research studies that are designed to evaluate their effectiveness.  Specifically, when a treatment is identified as an EBP it means that the treatment has been studied in a community or academic setting and has been proven to show positive treatment outcomes in multiple studies conducted by multiple research teams. Additionally, EBPs are client-centered because they are treatments that are designed to integrate research evidence, clinical expertise, and client/patient/family values, preferences, culture, and environment.

What Are Current Evidence-Based Practices?

The table below provides a brief list of EBPs for specific child and adolescent disorders:

Diagnosis Evidence-Based Practice
Anxiety Ages 9-18 Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)

Ages 3-17 Exposure Therapy

Ages 3-13 Modeling Therapy

ADHD Ages 3-12 Behavior Therapy (in home and in school)

Ages 3-16 Parent Management Training

*The combination of behavior therapy and medication is often most effective in treating ADHD

Autism Spectrum Disorder Ages 3-13 Behavior Therapy

Ages 3-13 Individual and family therapies that target   communication skills, interaction skills, and behavior modification

Bipolar Disorder No controlled studies of psychosocial interventions for youth with bipolar disorder have been done. However, behavior therapy, family education, and support benefit youth and families and improve relationships, communication, and coping skills.
Conduct Disorder Ages 3-15 Parent Training

Ages 9-15 Anger Coping Therapy

Ages 6-17 Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT)

Ages 13-16 Functional Family Therapy (FFT)

Ages 9-18 Treatment Foster Care (TFC)

Ages 12-17 Multisystemic Therapy (MST)

Ages 12-17 Mentoring

Ages 9-18 CBT

Depression Ages 9-18 CBT

Ages 11-18 Relaxation Therapy

Ages 12-18 Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)

Ages 12-18 Family Education and Support

Schizophrenia No controlled studies of psychosocial interventions for youth with schizophrenia have been done. However, behavior therapy, family education, and support benefit youth and families and improve relationships, communication, and coping skills.
Substance Use Ages 9-18 CBT

Community Reinforcement

Family Therapy

Online Resources on Evidence Based Practices

The Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (Division 53 of the American Psychological Association) offers clinicians and parents access to a variety of online video resources on EBPs, which also includes a more recently developed YouTube channel titled: Effective Child Therapy Resource Library. Along with providing par

ents and clinicians with a variety of free videos, these online resources cover a wide range of topics pertaining to EBPs for children and adolescents including:

These video resources provide parents with interviews conducted with experts in child and adolescent psychology. Experts provide brief discussions on specific issues such as, treating specific disorders, identifying certain behaviors (to determine whether or not your child might have a problem), as well as evidence-based treatment options. The videos also provide additional links to related videos and PDFs that offer parents more information regarding the specific topic.

If you have questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (847) 595-4808 and speak to one of our Family Child Advocates today!

Download our Guide for Families

We know that choosing a local ABA facility can be a hard decision. We’ve created an informational guide to help you understand more about the questions you should be asking while meeting with different providers.

Although we talk about our services here, our highest goal is for you to feel comfortable and knowledgeable about picking a provider that is the best fit for your needs. You are making a decision that will impact the entire trajectory of your child’s life!
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The cover of the NSPT Guide for Families, which helps families to figure out the questions to ask when picking an ABA provider.

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Testimonials

Success looks different for every child... But we bet we have a story that matches your child's needs. Like James, who started with us as non-speaking and lacking the ability to initiate and maintain social interactions. Today, he can speak complete sentences, clearly state his needs, and navigate social interactions with his friends!

Our infant daughter was in physical therapy with Anna Zahn for about five months.  Anna was consistent, patient, and wonderful with our daughter.  Anna was also clear in her communications with us as parents which helped us understand our daughter's progress and needs, as well as how we could help our daughter at home.  While we are proud that our daughter graduated PT, we will miss Anna's warmth and kindness.

Emily

I love this place! Chista is an amazing person, so sweet and kind and very professional in her work. All staff are very kind with children. I feel happy to find this place for my daughter. Thank you!!!

Maria Di Rita

I cannot say enough nice things about the staff! My son worked with Khadija as his ABA therapist and is finishing up this week with his OT, Sabrina. They were really instrumental in helping us navigate a new diagnosis. Both were so easy to approach with questions. From Leeann at the front desk to the RBTs (Alex, Rabbia, Molly, and many others), we always felt so welcomed. It seems like the staff genuinely enjoy their jobs, consistently offering feedback and suggestions on how to help my son.

Jennifer Peyer

We have been working with the amazing team at NSPT for many years. They have been essential in understanding and supporting our child. I recommend their services to anyone looking for their specific type of support.Posted to

Monica Terése Carranza

They are so sweet and kinds persons with professionalism and really worried about the kids and how help they to get new skills and moving forward with knowledge.

Alejandra M.

NSPT is fantastic! All of the staff are wonderful, accomodating, and make you feel welcome and comfortable. Alan is fantastic - he has helped our family tremendously and has such patience and purpose in everything he does.

Alex Ehrhardt

North Shore Pediatric Therapy has been amazing.  They have done a great job adjusting to the specific needs of my autistic child.

Matt Nakanishi

My 12 yr old son has a lovely support team in Robert (Social Work) and Lindsay (OT)! He gains so much from his sessions & I gain so much from the communication and brainstorming! Thanks!

Jennie Meyer

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