“Your Child in the Balance is a
superb and much-needed guide to the complex world of psychiatric
medications for children. Dr. Kalikow delves deeply into a subject that
is usually only superficially addressed. He discusses both the science
and the psychology of medications, and gives parents both the knowledge
and the guidance they need to make the right decisions. I could not
recommend this book more highly. Truly a brilliant work.”
- Edward Hallowell, MD, Best
Selling Author of Driven to
Distraction
“Your Child in the Balance is a
wonderful book. It provides parents with much needed, scientifically
sound and wise advice on psychiatric medications for children and
teenagers. It will help parents navigate the important decisions about
what treatments are safe and effective for their children.”
- Harold S. Koplewicz, MD
Arnold and Debbie Simon Professor of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and
Director, New York University
Child Study Center
Author of More Than Moody
“Kalikow’s book provides the helping hand that most parents need…Your Child in the Balance is a thoughtful
overview…The warmth and readability of this book makes Dr. Kalikow’s
wisdom easy to absorb.”
- Judith Rapoport, MD
Author of The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop
Washing
Chief, Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health
“Dr. Kalikow has written a 'must read' book for parents, teachers and
the therapists who work with children. Unlike the usual 'cookbook' or
'one size fits all' approach, he assumes that thoughtful, intelligent
parents can use the numerous illustrative vignettes he provides to
decide for themselves when psychiatric medication is the treatment of
choice for any particular patient either alone or as an adjunct to
other therapies, whether psychodynamic, behavioral, or family therapy.
Never dogmatic nor patronizing, he asks…When should medication be
considered, and for what condition? Has the medication been established
as safe? What are the benefits and…side effects?…The book is replete
with…clearly written
explanations of brain function, and important research findings
regarding the efficacy of psychotropic drugs. I plan to use the
Insider’s Guide in teaching psychiatric residents and medical students
and shall offer a copy to every parent who wonders whether his child is
a candidate for medicine.”
- Clarice J. Kestenbaum, MD
Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University College of
Physicians and Surgeons, Past President of the American Academy of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
“Dr. Kalikow's expert work offers parents, mental health workers,
educators, and all others interested in the behavioral health of
children, but especially parents, an insider's view of the complex
processes which modern child psychiatrists use to make a diagnosis and
to develop treatments for their young patients. Dr. Kalikow makes
difficult terms, including medical jargon, easily understandable, and
he breaks down complicated decisions into their simple component parts.
The most urgent questions on the minds of parents--"What's wrong with
my child?" "Should my child be treated?" "How?" "Will he/she get
better?" "Is the treatment safe?"-- are answered in a calm and
reassuring style. With the information and insight Dr. Kalikow
provides, parents are empowered to become true partners in the medical
decisions which profoundly affect their children's lives, and their
own. And, this is all done in an easy read which tells us that Dr.
Kalikow has done this many times before on an individual basis, with
success and with impact. The benefit that hundreds of children and
their families have had from working with Dr. Kalikow is now, through
this book, available to all. Dr. Kalikow is a master locksmith and his
book is a key opening the door to many of the mysteries of behavioral
health in childhood.”
- Michael Gewitz, MD
Executive Director/Physician-in-Chief;
Chief, Pediatric, Cardiology
Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center
Professor & Vice Chair, Pediatrics,
New York Medical College
“Dr. Kalikow’s book is a cogent and comprehensive analysis of the
pediatric psychiatric medication dilemma. As scholarly as a textbook,
it is eminently readable. In fact, on many occasions, I found myself
smiling (or chuckling) as I read the case vignettes. The reader will
recognize a patient, client, friend, family member, or even themselves
in many of the scenarios. With Your Child in
the Balance: An Insider’s Guide for Parents to the Psychiatric Medicine
Dilemma, Dr. Kalikow explores the myriad of issues that should
underlie every decision to use psychiatric medication in children and
adolescents. It should be read by anyone who refers children for
medication or who prescribes medication....it should then be
recommended to the parents of those children and teens.”
- Jamie Hoffman-Rosenfeld, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of
Medicine, Medical Director, Queens Child Advocacy Center
Chief, Section of Child Advocacy and Protection, Schneider Children’s
Hospital
"A decision to use psychotropic
medication for youngsters can be one of the most stessful, delicate,
and difficult decisions parents and doctors will ever make...Your Child in the Balance: An
Insider's Guide for Parents to the Psychiatric Medicine Dilemma,
by Kevin T. Kalikow, is a welcome addition to the literature advising
parents and educating the public about the benefits and risks involved
in medicating children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders.
"This book has many features that make it a very strong addition to
this literature. Dr. Kalikow maintains a user-friendly tone
throughout...It is peppered with wit and humor, making reading easier,
even entertaining...The selected vignettes are illustrative of the kind
of clinical situations met in our offices, and the situations parents
confront with their children...
"This book may prove very helpful to another group of readers because
of its "philosophical" approach...Non-psychiatric prescribers, child
therapists from a variety of disciplines, psychiatric and child
pscyhiatric residents, will all learn from the thoughtful discussion of
the process of decision-making in child psychopharmacology...
"Another strong element of Dr. Kalikow's book is his treatment of some
larger issues that affect psycho-pharmacological treatment of
children: the intrusion of the FDA and the media in doctors'
offices regarding "off label" prescribing...
"In conclusion, I strongly recommend this book to be read by parents,
older patients, and a variety of people involved in taking care of
children and adolescents with psychiatric/behavioral problems...
-Fady Hajal, MD
Medical Director of Stony Lodge
Hospital
Book Review in The Westchester Psychiatrist,
Winter, 2007, page 3
"[Your approach] is so
parent-friendly...exactly what I've been looking for. You
masterfully blend stories, reassurance, empathy, and factual data with
a firm, almost subliminal, insistence on responsibility...you transform
complicated ideas and procedures into content easy and painless to
understand... It is about people and about helping people. It is
knowledge needed by people who are frightened, but who must act
nevertheless. You provide them with the ability to deal with the
fear and make informed decisions."
-Professor
Yitzhak Ersoff
Director of International Relations
NITZAN-Israeli Association for
Children & Adults with Learning Disabilities
"...thoughtful, accessible and practical...Dr.
Kalikow's sympathy for parents' dilemmas in difficult situation is
palpable, and reassuring...this is a book whose message deserves as
wide an airing as possible."
-Merri
Rosenberg
Book Review on Education Update Online, May, 2007
"...Dr. Kalikow has the answers...Kalikow writes in a
manner that boils down all of the data and research into easily
understandable chunks. I found it engaging and easy to
follow...[the] vignettes of personal case studies...really help
humanize the issues...[they] made me feel he undertstands exactly what parents are dealing
with...I wholeheartedly recommend this book if you're interested in
this topic. I haven't read a better book relating to the
diagnosis and treatment of childhood psychiatric disorders."
-John M.
Grohol, Psy D
Book Review on psychcentral.com, July 3, 2007
