Healthy development during the early stages of life contributes to good mental health in adulthood, preventing the onset of future problems. Despite the existence of effective psychological treatments, many adolescents do not receive the most appropriate treatment for their problem. Some of the reasons have to do with the lack of knowledge of professionals and patients about the existence of effective and evidence-based treatments and patients’ beliefs about the most appropriate treatments for different problems. In the same way, it is necessary to continue advancing in the knowledge that helps to understand the reason for the efficacy of the different psychological treatments. In this symposium we present an advance in the knowledge of the most effective psychological treatments for different adolescent mental health problems.

Desireé Ruiz Aranda

Loyola Andalucía University. Spain

Professor at Loyola Andalucía University. One of the main lines of research focuses on the development of a training program in emotional intelligence for adolescents (Intemo Program) which is currently being applied by different educational centers in different Spanish provinces and in Latin America. Throughout her professional career she has participated in more than 10 national and international projects. The work derived from these projects resulted in receiving reference awards in the field of emotional education such as, for example: Martín Aldehuela Award (2012) or the Mention in the Attendis Award (2013). Another of her main lines of work is focused on examining the influence of emotional skills on the physical and mental health of adolescents. Her research and teaching work has been linked to professional activity, working as a psychologist in different centers performing functions of evaluation and psychological treatment of children, mainly adolescents. Currently, she is the director of the Master’s Degree in General Health Psychology at Loyola Andalucía University and collaborates with the University Clinic of the University of Loyola Andalucía.