PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS FOR THE ADOLESCENT WITH CLEFT-LIP AND PALATE

The normal developmental tasks of adolescence include individuation fr om family, development of sense of personal identity, and establishmen t of satisfactory peer relationships. Accomplishment of each of these tasks is potentially more difficult for the adolescent who is also cop ing with the ongoing treatment demands of cleft lip and palate or othe r craniofacial disorders (CFA). This article presents treatment strate gies that can be used by multidisciplinary teams to assist the adolesc ent with CFA in mastering age appropriate developmental tasks.