Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders In Children And Adolescents: Scientific Foundations And Therapeutic Models

Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Scientific Foundations and Therapeutic Models

With contributions from prominent experts, this pragmatic book takes a close look at the nature of complex psychological trauma in children and adolescents and the clinical challenges it presents. Each chapter shows how a complex trauma perspective can provide an invaluable unifying framework for case conceptualization, assessment, and intervention amidst the chaos and turmoil of these young patients' lives. A range of evidence-based and promising therapies are reviewed and illustrated with vivid case vignettes. The volume is grounded in clinical innovations and cutting-edge research on child and adolescent brain development, attachment, and emotion regulation, and discusses diagnostic criteria, including those from DSM-IV and DSM-5.See also Drs. Ford and Courtois's edited volume Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders in Adults, Second Edition, and their authored volume, Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach.Review"Describing evidence-based models for treatment of complex trauma in children, this book is interwoven with contemporary knowledge about psychobiology and is richly illustrated with extended clinical examples. In addition to a focus on individual treatment, some chapters address the systems within which traumatized children live and are treated. There is a repeated focus throughout the chapters on attachment, self-regulation, and engaging families in treatment. The book provides an excellent foundation for clinicians working with this population."--Laurie Anne Pearlman, PhD, past president, Trauma Research, Education, and Training Institute, Inc."This volume comprehensively examines complex trauma in children and adolescents, from its neurobiological impact to the development and dissemination of evidence-based treatments. Newer therapies currently being tested are also discussed; case examples illustrate the use of each modality. Clinical challenges related to self-regulation, dissociation, impaired caregiver attachment, and intergenerational trauma are addressed. Written with clarity and detail, each chapter will benefit both trainees and seasoned mental health and medical practitioners. This book fosters needed synergy between scientific inquiry and real-world clinical applications in this important field."--Alesia O. Hawkins, PhD, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford"It's all here, including insights into neuroscience, family dynamics, assessment, and--most centrally--intervention. Clinicians and advanced students of psychiatry, psychology, and social work will consider this book a tremendous resource. Chapters on betrayal trauma, multitraumatized children, and treatment approaches are particularly useful for psychotherapists. The list of authors reads as a 'who's who' in the field. If you've ever wondered what to do to help a severely traumatized child, this book is for you."--Lisa Aronson Fontes, PhD, University Without Walls at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst