Joy D. Osofsky

Recent years have seen significant advances in knowledge about the effects of exposure to psych-ological trauma on young children from birth to age 5. This volume brings together leading experts to address practical considerations in working with traumatized young children and their caregivers. State-of-the-art assessment and treatment approaches are presented, together with innovative service delivery models. With a focus on building cross-disciplinary collaboration to better serve this vulnerable population, this is an indispensable resource for all mental health and human service professionals working with children at risk.

Children with Special Needs, Trauma & Brain Development, Professionals, Effects of Trauma

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David M. Brodzinsky

Focusing on developmental and clinical issues in children's adjustment to adoption, the authors introduce this volume with an overview of historical and contemporary perspectives, then explore various theories that have addressed the issue of psychological risk associated with adoption.

Following a review of empirical research on factors that influence the adjustment process, the authors discuss different types of adoption, analyze methodological problems, and discuss clinical and assessment issues that commonly arise in work with adoptees and their families

Professionals, Effects of Trauma

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Keith N. Richards

This first-person, emotional account of a child protection service worker in New York State gives the reader an intimate look at all aspects of handling child abuse cases: interviewing parents who have been accused of abusing their children, talking to abused children removed from their parents' guardianship, working with an uncaring system, ironically designed with the best of intentions, and keeping up with the mounds of paperwork each case generates.

Lucid and disturbing, eloquent and passionate, Tender Mercies is a must-read for professionals and laypeople alike.

Professionals, Child Welfare, Effects of Trauma

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Keri Vellis

When I Was Little is a story for children who have suffered any kind of abuse or trauma in their young lives. Follow along as a child struggles with emotions and learns to share difficult feelings and experiences with trusted individuals The child finds comfort and security in a safe and loving environment. This is Book #2 in a series focused on foster care, adoption and child safety and advocacy written by Keri Vellis.

Children's Titles, Foster Care, Grief & Loss, Children with Special Needs, Trauma & Brain Development, Professionals, Effects of Trauma

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Pauline Boss

Pauline Boss, the principal theorist of the concept of ambiguous loss, guides clinicians in the task of building resilience in clients who face the trauma of loss without resolution. Boss describes a concrete therapeutic approach that is at once directive and open to the complex contexts in which people find meaning and discover hope in the face of ambiguous losses. In Part I readers are introduced to the concept of ambiguous loss and shown how such losses relate to concepts of the family, definitions of trauma, and capacities for resilience. In Part II Boss leads readers through the various aspects of and target points for working with those suffering ambiguous loss. From meaning to mastery, identity to ambivalence, attachment to hope–these chapters cover key states of mind for those undergoing ambiguous loss. The Epilogue addresses the therapist directly and his or her own ambiguous losses. Closing the circle of the therapeutic process, Boss shows therapists how fundamental their own experiences of loss are to their own clinical work.

In Loss, Trauma, and Resilience, Boss provides the therapeutic insight and wisdom that aids mental health professionals in not "going for closure," but rather building strength and acceptance of ambiguity. What readers will find is a concrete therapeutic approach that is at once directive and open to the complex contexts in which people find meaning and discover hope in the face of ambiguous losses.

Parenting, Grief & Loss, General Adoption, Search and Reunion, Professionals, Effects of Trauma, Grief & Loss in the Triad

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Donna B. Pincus, PhD

When our children are born, we do everything we can to make sure they have love, food, clothing, and shelter. But despite all this, one in five children today suffers from a diagnosed anxiety disorder, and countless others suffer from anxiety that interferes with critical social, academic, and physical development. Dr. Donna Pincus, nationally recognized childhood anxiety expert, is here to help. In Growing Up Brave, Dr. Pincus helps parents identify and understand anxiety in their children, outlines effective and convenient parenting techniques for reducing anxiety, and shows parents how to promote bravery for long-term confidence. From trouble sleeping and separation anxiety to social anxiety or panic attacks, Growing Up Brave provides an essential toolkit for instilling happiness and confidence for childhood and beyond.

Parenting, Grief & Loss, General Adoption, Domestic Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, Openness in Adoption, Children with Special Needs, Attachment, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mental Health Diagnosis Illness, Physical/Medical Disabilities, Sexual Issues, Trauma & Brain Development, Professionals, Effects of Trauma

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Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.

Parenting, Grief & Loss, General Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Openness in Adoption, Children with Special Needs, Trauma & Brain Development, Professionals, Adoption Issues, Effects of Trauma, Grief & Loss in the Triad

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Debra Wesselmann, Cathy Schweitzer, & Stefanie Armstrong

An accompanying parent’s guide filled with effective techniques to help challenging children with traumatic pasts.

Designed as a manual to complement the clinician’s guide, this book is written for birth, foster, or adoptive parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, or anyone who may be raising a child who has experienced attachment loss and trauma. Their severe behaviors can often leave caregivers feeling confused, frightened, hurt, and overwhelmed, as they struggle to make sense of a massive amount of information―and misinformation―that exists on attachment issues.

This book provides understanding, validation, and solutions for these caregivers. In it, the authors explain their innovative model of “team” treatment that includes an EMDR therapist and a family therapist. Best used in conjunction with therapeutic help, it walks readers through an array of parenting strategies that will lead them to a deeper understanding of their traumatized child, and better enable them to calm their behavior and improve their attachment security so they can heal.

Parenting, Grief & Loss, General Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Children with Special Needs, Attachment, Trauma & Brain Development, Professionals, Effects of Trauma

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Debra Wesselmann, Cathy Schweitzer, & Stefanie Armstrong

A practical guide to treating children suffering from early attachment trauma.

Loss of a parent, separations, abuse, neglect, or a history of a difficult foster or orphanage experience can lead to profound emotional dysregulation and mistrust in children. Working with these children―many of whom have experienced multiple traumas and losses―can feel overwhelming. Clinicians must navigate complex case management decisions and referrals, address the needs of parents and schools, not to mention ameliorate the traumatic memories and severe behaviors that present in the kids.

But by working as a collaborative team, EMDR and family therapists can, together, strengthen the parent-child attachment bond and help to mend the early experiences that drive the child’s behavior. This book, and its accompanying Parent Manual, are intended to serve as clear and practical treatment guides, presenting the philosophy and step-by-step protocols behind the Integrative Team Treatment approach, so both the family system issues and the child’s traumatic past are effectively addressed. You need not be a center specializing in attachment trauma to implement this team model, nor must members of the team practice at the same location. With at least one fully-trained EMDR practitioners as part of the two-person team, any clinician can pair with another to implement this treatment approach, and heal children suffering from attachment trauma.

Parenting, Grief & Loss, General Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Children with Special Needs, Attachment, Trauma & Brain Development, Professionals, Effects of Trauma

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Donna Jackson Nakazawa

A groundbreaking book showing the link between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and adult illnesses such as heart disease, autoimmune disease, and cancer—Childhood Disrupted also explains how to cope with these emotional traumas and even heal from them.

Your biography becomes your biology. The emotional trauma we suffer as children not only shapes our emotional lives as adults, it also affects our physical health, longevity, and overall wellbeing. Scientists now know on a bio-chemical level exactly how parents’ chronic fights, divorce, death in the family, being bullied or hazed, and growing up with a hypercritical, alcoholic, or mentally ill parent can leave permanent, physical “fingerprints” on our brains.

When we as children encounter sudden or chronic adversity, excessive stress hormones cause powerful changes in the body, altering our body chemistry. The developing immune system and brain react to this chemical barrage by permanently resetting our stress response to “high,” which in turn can have a devastating impact on our mental and physical health.

Donna Jackson Nakazawa shares stories from people who have recognized and overcome their adverse experiences, shows why some children are more immune to stress than others, and explains why women are at particular risk. Groundbreaking in its research, inspiring in its clarity, Childhood Disrupted explains how you can reset your biology—and help your loved ones find ways to heal.

Parenting, Discipline, Children with Special Needs, Attachment, Trauma & Brain Development, Professionals, Adoption Issues, Effects of Trauma

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