Foster Care Training

Psychotic disorders significantly impact children, youth, and families in youth services and child welfare. This course provides an overview of schizophrenia and psychotic disorders including challenges and approaches for working with systems involved children, youth, and adults who have been diagnosed with psychotic disorders or experience psychotic symptoms. A history of schizophrenia is provided including how it became over diagnosed as a ‘protest psychosis’ in African Americans during the social unrest of the 1960’s and 1970’s and the impact of deinstitutionalization on services for the mentally ill. Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders are presented including brief psychosis syndrome, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, substance induced psychotic disorders, and the proposed attenuated psychosis syndrome. Psychotic symptoms in children and youth and the onset of schizophrenia are reviewed.