Over the past 20 years we have learned a great deal more about which services work best for children who have mental health issues. Services that have been found to work very well for children and have research supporting them are called “evidence-based practices”. These evidenced-based practices have also been proven to work in the real world with children who have real issues and concerns. Best and promising practices are services that we believe to be the best available services for children but have yet to have had enough research to back them up (demonstrating that they work) to be called evidence-based practices. It is important to note that evidence-based practices have not been identified for all mental health issues that children face. Providers should involve parents and caregivers in developing a treatment plan for your child with clear goals where results can be measured over time. In Connecticut, evidence-based practices are only available in some places, depending upon your child’s issues and concerns. Many community-based providers offer these services for children with mental health issues and you can ask your mental health professional about them when you contact them for help. For example, an evidence-based treatment for children who have been affected by trauma is called Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy  (TF-CBT). For a list of these agencies, please click here.