Attachment Therapy on Trial


Book Description

Candace Newmaker was an adopted girl whose mother felt the child suffered from an emotional disorder that prevented loving attachment. The mother sought attachment therapy—a fringe form of psychotherapy—for the child and was present at her death by suffocation during that therapy. This text examines the beliefs of the girl's mother and the unlicensed therapists, showing that the death, though unintentional, was a logical outcome of this form of treatment. The authors explain legal factors that make it difficult to ban attachment therapy, despite its significant dangers. Much of the text's material is drawn from court testimony from the therapists' trial, and from 11 hours of videotape made while Candace was forcibly held beneath a blanket by several adults during the therapy. This book also presents history connecting attachment therapy to century-old fringe treatments, explaining why they may appeal to an unsophisticated public. This book will appeal to general readers, such as parents and adoption educators, as well as to scholars and students in clinical psychology, child psychiatry, and social work.




Attachment in Psychotherapy


Book Description

This eloquent book translates attachment theory and research into an innovative framework that grounds adult psychotherapy in the facts of childhood development. Advancing a model of treatment as transformation through relationship, the author integrates attachment theory with neuroscience, trauma studies, relational psychotherapy, and the psychology of mindfulness. Vivid case material illustrates how therapists can tailor interventions to fit the attachment needs of their patients, thus helping them to generate the internalized secure base for which their early relationships provided no foundation. Demonstrating the clinical uses of a focus on nonverbal interaction, the book describes powerful techniques for working with the emotional responses and bodily experiences of patient and therapist alike.







Attachment-Focused Family Play Therapy


Book Description

Attachment-Focused Family Play Therapy presents an essential roadmap for therapists working with traumatized youth. Exploring trauma and attachment through a neurobiological focus, the book lays out a flexible framework for practitioners treating young clients within the context of their family relationships. Chapters demonstrate how techniques of play and expressive therapy can be integrated into work with different developmental stages, while providing the tools needed to fully incorporate the family into the healing process. The book also provides clinical examples and guidance on the ethical decision-making needed to effectively implement attachment work and facilitate positive change. Written in an accessible style, Attachment-Focused Family Play Therapy is an important resource for mental health professionals who work with traumatized children, adolescents, and adults.




Handbook of Attachment-Based Interventions


Book Description

The first volume to showcase science-based interventions that have been demonstrated effective in promoting attachment security, this is a vital reference and clinical guide for practitioners. With a major focus on strengthening caregiving relationships in early childhood, the Handbook also includes interventions for school-age children; at-risk adolescents; and couples, with an emphasis on father involvement in parenting. A consistent theme is working with children and parents who have been exposed to trauma and other adverse circumstances. Leading authorities describe how their respective approaches are informed by attachment theory and research, how sessions are structured and conducted, special techniques used (such as video feedback), the empirical evidence base for the approach, and training requirements. Many chapters include illustrative case material.




Reactive Attachment Disorder


Book Description

A child’s close bond with mother, father, or guardian usually provides a foundation for trust in all future attachments. Children deprived of early and healthy dependency—who do not form normal attachment with their caregivers—may later suffer from Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). This childhood disorder is characterized by a general failure in social relationships resulting from pathogenic care. Although first included in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III) in 1980, RAD is one of the more uncommon and understudied forms of psychopathology. Reactive Attachment Disorder: A Case-Based Approach adds to a now growing research base, providing scholars and clinicians with a well-rounded analysis of RAD and suggested treatments. The case-based approach used in this Brief follows the representative case of “Jorge,” presented as unfolding over time and structured to illustrate challenges of diagnosis, to show examples of co-morbidity, and to provoke reflection on what questions may arise during treatment. Readers are asked to appraise the overlap with other clinical syndromes, the forms of psychotherapy which may apply, and the potential role of psychiatric medications as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.




Attachment Theory in Practice


Book Description

Drawing on cutting-edge research on adult attachment--and providing an innovative roadmap for clinical practice--Susan M. Johnson argues that psychotherapy is most effective when it focuses on the healing power of emotional connection. The primary developer of emotionally focused therapy (EFT) for couples, Johnson now extends her attachment-based approach to individuals and families. The volume shows how EFT aligns perfectly with attachment theory as it provides proven techniques for treating anxiety, depression, and relationship problems. Each modality (individual, couple, and family therapy) is covered in paired chapters that respectively introduce key concepts and present an in-depth case example. Special features include instructive end-of-chapter exercises and reflection questions.




Parent—Child Interaction Therapy


Book Description

This practical guide offers mental health professionals a detailed, step-by-step description on how to conduct Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) - the empirically validated training program for parents with children who have disruptive behavior problems. It includes several illustrative examples and vignettes as well as an appendix with assessment instruments to help parents to conduct PCIT.




EBOOK: Attachment Narrative Therapy


Book Description

What are some of the central connections between narrative, systemic and attachment therapies? How do early emotional experiences in families shape our narratives about ourselves and our families? In what ways do family attachments shape our narrative abilities, such as being able to reflect on and integrate our experiences? This book sets out a framework for practice – Attachment Narrative Therapy – that provides a new approach to working with families, couples and individuals. This is not offered as a prescriptive model but as an aid and guide to practice that draws aspects of narrative and attachment therapy into systemic work. The synthesis of these ideas offers clinicians a new integrative way to approach their practice – one in which the three approaches are used to create a greater whole than their constituent parts. The book includes: Clinical examples Personal reflections Frameworks for clinical practice Therapeutic guides that include details of the application of core techniques Extensive reading guides that offer connections to related theory and practice Attachment Narrative Therapy is essential reading for a wide variety of therapists and counsellors along with researchers and trainers in those fields. It also provides insight into good practice for health and social welfare professionals in the area of family and child welfare.




Rebuilding Attachments with Traumatized Children


Book Description

Learn to build the trust you need to help children in crisis! Rebuilding Attachments with Traumatized Children: Healing from Losses, Violence, Abuse, and Neglect is a therapeutic guide to helping troubled children move beyond the traumatic experiences that haunt them. Author Dr. Richard Kagan, Director of Psychological Services for Parsons Child and Family Center in Albany, New York, presents comprehensive information on how to understand—and surmount—the impact of loss, neglect, separation, and violence on children’s development, how to discover and foster strengths in children and their families, and how to rebuild connections and hope for children who are at risk of harm to themselves and others. This unique book is designed to be used in tandem with Real Life Heroes: A Life Storybook for Children (Haworth), an innovative workbook that helps children develop the self-esteem they need to overcome the worries and fears of their past through a creative arts approach that fosters positive values and a sense of pride. Rebuilding Attachments with Traumatized Children helps children move from negative or suppressed memories to a more positive perspective, not by denying hardships, but by drawing strength from the supportive people in their lives. Practitioners can use the book as a framework and detailed guide to assessment, engagement, development of service plans, and implementation of attachment and trauma therapy. The book is a comprehensive model for working to build the trust necessary before other trauma therapy approaches can be successfully initiated. Topics examined in Rebuilding Attachments with Traumatized Children include: attachment theory and research types of attachment problems PTSD behaviors permanency work with children in placement ADHD, bipolar, and RAD cognitive behavioral therapies storytelling therapies the myth of perfection neuropsychological patterns and much more! Rebuilding Attachments with Traumatized Children is a rich resource for practitioners, academics, parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, grandparents, and anyone working to show troubled children how to learn from the past, resolve problems in the present, and build a better future.