The third edition of Case Studies in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology provides engaging narratives of clients with complex family situations. The answers to important real-world questions are often nuanced, contextual, and tentative. Unlike the idealistic scenarios presented in most textbooks, these case studies contain ethical lapses, clinical mistakes, confusing diagnostic pictures, cultural misunderstandings, unevenly applied evidence-based approaches, and sometimes unhappy endings. The fictional but realistic portrayals of clients help students learn the skills needed to be successful in the mental health field.

Critical thinking questions designed to develop objective analysis and evaluation abilities are embedded throughout the cases. These questions can become individual or group assignments for in-person, hybrid, and online formats. The problem-based learning approach challenges readers to create accurate case conceptualizations and evidence-based treatment plans. The cases utilize the International Classification of Diseases and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The current research applied in the cases deepens understanding of the etiology and treatment of these disorders and captures the tremendous progress in the field of psychology in establishing evidence-based treatment. Continuing the book’s tradition of diversity, the third edition includes a paraplegic father, a blind psychologist, Asian American, Black, biracial, Muslim, Latinx, and Native American participants with differing socioeconomic circumstances, immigration statuses, and sexual orientations.