Treating Trauma In Adolescents

This book presents an innovative and empathic approach to working with traumatized teens. It offers strategies for getting through to high-risk adolescents and for building a strong attachment relationship that can help get development back on track. Martha B. Straus draws on extensive clinical experience as well as cutting-edge research on attachment, developmental trauma, and interpersonal neurobiology. Vivid case material shows how to engage challenging or reluctant clients, implement interventions that foster self-regulation and an integrated sense of identity, and tap into both the teen's and the therapist's moment-to-moment emotional experience. Essential topics include ways to involve parents and other caregivers in treatment. ÿ

This is the authoritative guide to conducting trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), a systematic, evidence-based treatment for traumatized children and their families. Provided is a comprehensive framework for assessing posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and other symptoms; developing a flexible, individualized treatment plan; and working collaboratively with children and parents to build core skills in such areas as affect regulation and safety. Specific guidance is offered for responding to different types of traumatic events, with an entire section devoted to grief-focused components. Useful appendices feature resources, reproducible handouts, and information on obtaining additional training. TF-CBT has been nationally recognized as an exemplary evidence-based program. See also the edited volume Trauma-Focused CBT for Children and Adolescents: Treatment Applications for more information on tailoring TF-CBT to children's varying developmental levels and cultural backgrounds.

Tens of thousands of clinicians have used this book--now revised and expanded with 50% new material--to plan and organize effective interventions for children and adolescents who have experienced complex trauma. The Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) framework can be used with children, parents, and other caregivers in a wide range of settings. The volume guides the clinician to identify key treatment goals and intervene flexibly to strengthen child-caregiver relationships and support healthy development and positive functioning. In a large-size format with lay-flat binding for easy photocopying, it is packed with case vignettes and clinical tools, including 79 reproducible handouts and forms. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials.

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.

Attachment-Focused Trauma Treatment for Children and Adolescents brings together two powerful treatment directions that exponentially expand the knowledge and skills available to child and adolescent trauma therapists. The book provides theoretical knowledge, clinical approaches, and specific, detailed techniques that clinicians will find indispensable in the treatment of the most challenging and high-risk young trauma victims. Also included are case studies, developed from over three decades of experience, that show the reader how to use the techniques in real-life settings. The treatment approach described here is flexible enough to adapt to real clients in the real world, regardless of trauma and attachment histories, family and living situations, or difficulties engaging in supportive therapeutic relationships. Clear and cohesive, the model presented here allows room for the individuality and approach of each therapist so that the therapeutic relationship can evolve in a genuine and unique way. An appendix of photocopiable worksheets gives interactive tools for therapists to immediately use with clients.

An innovative somatic and attachment-based treatment for working with children and adolescents who suffer from complex trauma and neglect "[This] is a ground-breaking new approach to treating traumatized children, based on the combination of keen clinical observation, sensory integration, and a deep understanding of the latest advances in the neuroscience of trauma."—Bessel van der Kolk, MD, best-selling author of The Body Keeps the Score The SMART (Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment) program addresses three key processes that can be derailed by developmental trauma--somatic regulation, trauma processing, and attachment-building--and uses movement and sensation to target the neurological structures that support emotional and behavioral regulation. Transforming Trauma in Children and Adolescents teaches therapists the eight key skills required for SMART mastery and provides seven regulation tools for clients, helping children and adolescents manage their feelings and attend to developmental tasks like making friends, participating at school, learning to play with others, and developing a sense of self that includes--but isn't defined by--the trauma they've experienced. Enriched with case studies and recommended adaptations, the book includes resources for parents and other caregivers who want to provide ongoing supportive care outside the clinical setting.

A cogent, caring, and comprehensive response to the reality that many children live lives of constant threat, fear, and confusion while lacking opportunities for positive social interactions, stimulation, and empowerment.

This book presents a theoretically based and empirically supported framework for work with traumatized children, youth, and young adults who have spent time in foster care. It offers vivid examples of cases from the work of clinicians of A Home Within, a national non-profit focused on meeting the emotional needs of current and former foster youth.