Mode Deactivation Therapy

Adolescents are often very hard to treat and evidence based research does not always work with this particular population. Many of the adolescents that are in treatment centers are dealing with behavioral issues, conduct issues, mood disorders, personality disorders, complex trauma, and suicidal ideation. These complex issues make finding proper treatment even more difficult. Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT) seems to work well with this population as every study in this annotated bibliography has shown. The adolescents in these studies were mostly male and consisted of many backgrounds. The participants ranged from 14-17 years of age. The major issue that was targeted in these studies was behavioral issues. This consisted of internalizing …show more content…
The participants in the study were largely male. This gender disparity makes it difficult to determine the efficacy with the female gender for use in practice. All but one of these studies also took place in a residential facility, the only one different being mandated outpatient treatment. This also makes it difficult to generalize the results to those that are not mandated to receive treatment or are not in need of treatment in a residential facility. Most of the studies also had a relatively small amount of participants. When you take into account the consistency of the results and the amount of people total from all of the studies, that sample looks much larger, but it still may be beneficial to expand the amount of participants in the …show more content…
Future studies could be done with female adolescents or a mixture of male and female. It also may be beneficial to do research with those that identify as gender neutral or transgender, especially since those populations often experience bullying and trauma. It would also be helpful to do research with participants that are not mandated to receive treatment so that the effects can be seen on those that are seeking assistance. Working with non-mandated therapy sessions may also give the opportunity to increase the sample size and to also make sure that the participant has the right to leave the study if they get uncomfortable with it at any point in time. Another important idea for future research is to see if it is a more effective practice for people from different age groups with other issues than the ones currently tested. This could ensure that the most effective practices are being used for everyone. This is important for Social Workers so that they can help their patients as much as possible and use the best practice needed for their unique