This book outlines both the theory and application of regulation intervention strategies for children with complex trauma history. National statistics identify that 1:7 children in the United States are subjected to child abuse or neglect. The age group with the highest reported incidences are in the 1-3 year old age group. The primary perpetrators of this abuse are the child’s caregivers. This age is closely associated with the critical period of development in the areas of the brain, the child’s physiology and their social/emotional well being. When primary attachment is disrupted, delays and disruptions across many domains occur. When the perpetrator of their trauma is the same person who should be ensuring their safety, a child develops behaviors in an attempt to make sense of their world. The behaviors serve a purpose. Behavioral approaches which rely on positive and negative consequences do not adequately address the cause of the behavior and are therefore ineffective. Other existing trauma interventions rely on the individual to cognitively process information. However, when dysregulated, retrieval of information from the frontal lobe of the brain is not physiologically possible. All these approaches also intervene on the assumption that the child knows what normal regulation feels like. Most of these children however have only known chaos and fear novelty. This attachment based intervention model incorporates neurological, physiological, observational and practical regulation intervention strategies for anyone working with children with complex trauma history. It is able to be applied in home, school, community and in therapy environments. When a child feels regulated and safe, the effectiveness of the child’s trauma treatment can be enhanced.

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. Courtois and Ford's edited volume Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders (Adults) and their authored volume, Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach.

"This is a must-read for clinicians who help traumatized children and their families. Lanktree and Briere have developed and tested an accessible, integrated, assessment-driven model that recognizes the ample impact of trauma on young children in different social contexts. A valuable alternative to rigidly manualized treatments, this book relies on clinical judgment and customized planning." Eliana Gil Gil Institute for Trauma Recovery and Education One of the few books on the treatment of psychological trauma in children that provides specific, in-depth individual, group, and family therapy interventions for complex psychological trauma, this practical book focuses on the treatment of 6-12 year-old children and their family members. The authors employ an evidence-based, yet flexible and individualized treatment model, Integrative Treatment of Complex Trauma for Children (ITCT-C), as they address the use of play therapy and other expressive approaches, attachment processing, multi-target titrated exposure, mindfulness techniques, psychoeducation, and affect regulation skill development, as well as interventions with family/caretaker and community systems. The authors emphasize a culturally sensitive and empowering perspective, one that addresses the effects of social marginalization and supports not only recovery, but also posttraumatic growth. Clinical examples and specific tools, such as the Assessment Treatment Flowchart (ATF-C), illustrate how assessment can be used to guide individualized and developmentally-appropriate interventions.

Therapeutic Work for Children with Complex Trauma offers a contemporary three-track psychodynamic treatment model to mental health professionals working with traumatised children and their caregivers. The book provides a contemporary and comprehensive approach to working with traumatised children by integrating knowledge and skills from traditional psychodynamic child psychotherapy and more contemporary trauma-informed and mentalization-based frameworks. It advocates three tracks of work, involving direct work with the child, work with the child’s primary caregivers and work with the network. The book is divided into two parts: Part I of the book covers the theoretical background and Part II discusses the core components and phases of the trauma-informed and mentalization-based treatment approach. The authors bring out the specific dynamics of the psychotherapeutic work through four composite cases woven through the book. Written in accessible language this treatment guide is primarily aimed at psychodynamically trained psychotherapists, mental health professionals and professional caregivers working with traumatised children.

Children Recovering from Complex Trauma: From Wound to Scar draws on the latest knowledge and research on complex trauma in children, as well as the authors’ expertise, in order to outline a trauma-sensitive approach to these children and their parents. The first part of the book describes the emotional and relational dynamics underlying these children’s behaviour. The second part of the book offers a glimpse behind the scenes of the authors' psychotherapy practice, elaborating the processes of change and growth that can enable developmental recovery ‘from wound to scar’ in children who have experienced complex trauma. As such, the book aims to ‘demystify’ what psychotherapy with a traumatised child may look like, as well as offer insights and tools which can support carers in their daily interactions with these children. This book will be of great use to the adoptive parents and foster carers of children who have experienced complex trauma, and the care professionals (e.g., teachers, foster care workers) who work with them.

Chronic childhood trauma, such as prolonged abuse or family violence, can severely disrupt a person's development, basic sense of self, and later relationships. Adults with this type of history often come to therapy with complex symptoms that go beyond existing criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This important book brings together prominent authorities to present the latest thinking on complex traumatic stress disorders and provide practical guidelines for conceptualization and treatment. Evidence-based assessment procedures are detailed, and innovative individual, couple, family, and group therapies are described and illustrated with case vignettes and session transcripts.

A burgeoning evidence base supports that arts, play and other creative therapies have potential to help children in foster care, kinship care or adoptive families to recover from complex trauma. Written by contributors working at the cutting edge of delivering effective therapeutic interventions, this innovative book describes models for working with children in foster care, kinship care or adoption. Covering how to assess needs and contextual considerations for working with children and families, this book presents a range of creative therapeutic approaches spanning art psychotherapy, music therapy and dance therapy. It emphasizes the necessity of working with caregivers and other significant adults, as well as the child, to facilitate recovery. The theoretical foundations of attachment, developmental psychology and neurobiology are embedded in each chapter showing how they underpin each of the recommended creative therapies. This book will be suitable for professionals directly employing creative approaches in their practice, such as arts therapists and play therapists, as well as those working with children who are interested in creative alternate approaches, such as psychologists, counsellors, therapists and social workers.

The Hero’s Mask Guidebook provides practical strategies to be used alongside the The Hero’s Mask novel. The Guidebook has been designed to promote an understanding of the impact of traumatic stress and what counselors, therapists, educators, parents and caregivers can do to promote healing and recovery. The Guidebook and storybook can be used together to spark conversations around the difficult topics of loss and trauma and to create openings for renewing and strengthening emotionally supportive relationships with distressed children after traumatic experiences. The Guidebook identifies resources to access information about treatment programs and strategies that can help children and families with traumatic stress and integration of The Hero’s Mask books with Real Life Heroes®, an evidence-supported treatment program for children and families with traumatic stress.

Investigation of the role of music in early life and learning has been somewhat fragmented, with studies being undertaken within a range of fields with little apparent conversation across disciplinary boundaries, and with an emphasis on pre-schoolers' and school-aged childrens' learning and engagement. The Oxford Handbook of Early Childhood Learning and Development in Music brings together leading researchers in infant and early childhood cognition, music education, music therapy, neuroscience, cultural and developmental psychology, and music sociology to interrogate questions of how our capacity for music develops from birth, and its contributions to learning and development. Researchers in cultural psychology and sociology of musical childhoods investigate those factors that shape children's musical learning and development and the places and spaces in which children encounter and engage with music. These issues are complemented with consideration of the policy environment at local, national and global levels in relation to music early learning and development and the ways in which these shape young children's music experiences and opportunities. The volume also explores issues of music provision and developmental contributions for children with Special Education Needs, children living in medical settings and participating in music therapy, and those living in sites of trauma and conflict. Consideration of these environments provides a context to examine music learning and development in family, community and school settings including general and specialized school environments. Authors trace the trajectories of development within and across cultures and settings and in that process identify those factors that facilitate or constrain children's early music learning and development.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of up-to-date research and intervention techniques for traumatized youth highlighting uncharted territories in the field of developmental trauma and related post-traumatic reactions. One of the few titles to provide a critical and comprehensive framework which focuses specifically on post-traumatic syndromes in children and adolescents Presents the implications of PTSD in other settings (such as school and family) that are not fully addressed in other works International range of contributors, such as David Foy, Julian Ford, Jennifer Freyd, Giovanni Liotti, and Brigitte Lueger-Schuster, bring perspectives from both Europe and North America An essential resource for both researchers and practitioners