Understanding And Treating The Aggression Of Children

This book is the most comprehensive and detailed compilation of specific and practical techniques available for child and play therapists to draw on in the treatment of aggressive children. Written by two authors with a combined experience of over 50 years in the residential t...

Understanding and Treating the Aggression of Children: Fawns in Gorilla Suits provides a thorough review of the theoretical and research basis of the techniques and interventions in the treatment of aggressive and sometimes violent children. This is not a dry and sterile academic review but rather one that comes from work directly in the therapy room with thousands of hurting and in many cases traumatized children. One cannot read this book without being deeply moved and touched by the pain of these children and yet also be buoyed by their courage and willingness to persevere against formidable barriers. The metaphor of the fawn in a gorilla suit is introduced, followed by chapters covering developmental failures and invisible wounds, profound and unacknowledged losses, the implication of new findings from neuroscience, psychodynamics of aggressive children, risk factors when treating the traumatized child, special considerations when treating children in foster care, strengthening relationships with parents and helping them be more effective, enhancing relationships with direct care and instructional staff, developing mature defenses, and coping skills, creating a therapeutic milieu for traumatized children, and fostering hope and resilience.

First Published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In this work, figures in the field of childhood aggression share what is known about the cultural, biological and psychological roots of violence and develop intervention strategies to deal with the needs of young people. Coverage includes clinical assessment and treatment of children with inappropriate aggressive behaviour; socioenvironmental factors that contribute to inappropriate aggressive behaviour; behavioural and neurobiological consequences of environmental and emotional insults; neurochemical control of aggression and the moral and ethical implications of psychopharmacology in children; and psychosocial intervention strategies for helping children who are excessively aggressive.

A professional book aimed at practitioners and practitioners in training, this volume is the first attempt to provide a comprehensive, practical approach to the assessment and treatment of physically abused children. While there are other books that cover certain aspects of assessment and treatment, this book is comprehensive in that it covers child-specific, parent-specific, and family-specific interventions. The volume will present an overview of child physical abuse (including statistics and consequences), it will discuss outcome studies and treatment implications, and it will thoroughly discuss assessment and treatment. It will help practitioners: Understand children's abuse experiences, views, exposures to violence, and it will help expose thinking errors or negative attributions. It will also help the practitioner help the children with anxiety management, anger management, social skills, and safety plans. Help parents with child management and development, expectations and cognitive distortions, behavior management, and discipline. Facilitate family communication and problem solving.

Antisocial acts by children and teens are on the rise – from verbal abuse to physical bullying to cyber-threats to weapons in schools. Strictly punitive responses to aggressive behaviour may even escalate a situation, leaving peers, parents, and teachers feeling helpless. This unique volume conceptualizes aggression as a symptom of underlying behavioural and emotional problems and examines the psychology of perpetrators and the power dynamics that foster intentionally hurtful behaviour in young people. It details for readers how bibliotherapy offers relevant, innovative, and flexible treatment – as a standalone intervention or as a preventive method in conjunction with other forms of treatment – and can be implemented with individuals and groups, parents, teachers, and even rivals. This unique, must-have resource is essential reading for school psychologists, school counselors, social workers, and clinical child psychologists and any allied educational and mental health professionals who work with troubled youth.

One of the major challenges for mental health professionals today is to successfully treat violent patients. The mental health professional is obligated to go beyond containment and control to provide understanding, complete assessment and accurate diagnosis, and humane and effective treatment. Understanding and Treating Violent Psychiatric Patients is a one-of-a-kind, comprehensive guide to assessment, management, understanding, and treatment of violent patients. The first section encompasses practical guides to treatment for both children and adults. It discusses commonly encountered problems in the treatment of violent adult inpatients and includes a brief guide to pharmacological treatments. A chapter is devoted to the treatment of abnormal aggression in children and adolescents. The second section delves into a more conceptual and broadly focused approach to understanding violent patients. It covers the relationship between dissociation and violence, as well as the relationship between psychiatric disorders and violence, and addresses impulse control and the treatment of impulsive patients. Heavily researched and clinically focused, this new title is a "must read" for psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric social workers, psychiatric nurses, or any mental health professional needing a better approach to understanding and treating violent patients.

Offers play therapists practical ways of handling a pervasive issue with intense and aggressive play by their clients. With an understanding of aggressive play based on brain function and neuroscience, this book provides therapists with a framework to work authentically with aggressive play, while making it an integrative and therapeutic experience for the child. Through the lens of neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology, therapists are taught how to integrate the intensity experienced by both the child and the therapist during aggressive play in a way that leads towards greater healing and integration. The book explains the neurological processes that lead kids to dysregulation and provides therapists with tools to help their clients facilitate deep emotional healing, without causing their own nervous system to shut down. Topics covered include: embracing aggression; understanding the nervous system; understanding regulation; developing yourself as an external regulator; authentic expression; setting boundaries; working with emotional flooding; supporting parents during aggressive play.