In this volume, leading authorities provide a state-of-the-art examination of disorganized attachment: what it is, how it can be identified, and its links to behavioral problems and psychological difficulties in childhood and beyond. The editors offer a fresh perspective on disorganized attachment, not as a characteristic of the infant or child but as the product of a dysregulated and disorganized parent–child relationship. They present cutting-edge research and exemplary treatment approaches. With attention to the subjective experiences of both mothers and children, the book shows how focusing on the caregiving system can advance research and clinical practice.

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Core Concepts and Clinical Practice is a groundbreaking book that provides an overview of the field from both theoretical and clinical viewpoints. The editors and chapter authors -- some of the field's foremost researchers and teachers -- describe from their diverse perspectives key concepts fundamental to infant-parent and early childhood mental health work. The complexity of this emerging field demands an interdisciplinary approach, and the book provides a clear, comprehensive, and coherent text with an abundance of clinical applications to increase understanding and help the reader to integrate the concepts into clinical practice. Offering both cutting-edge coverage and a format that facilitates learning, the book boasts the following features and content: A focus on helping working professionals expand their specialization skills and knowledge and on offering core competency training for those entering the field, which reflects the Infant-Parent Mental Health Postgraduate Certificate Program (IPMHPCP) and Fellowship in Napa, CA that was the genesis of the book. Chapters written by a diverse group of authors with vastly different training, expertise, and clinical experience, underscoring the book's interdisciplinary approach. In addition, terms such as clinician, therapist, provider, professional, and teacher are intentionally used interchangeably to describe and unify the field. Explication and analysis of a variety of therapeutic models, including Perry's Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics; Brazelton's neurodevelopmental and relational Touchpoints; attachment theory; the Neurorelational Framework; Mindsight; and Downing's Video Intervention Therapy. An entire chapter devoted to diagnostic schemas for children ages 0--5, which highlights the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood: Revised (DC:0-3R). With the release of DSM-5, this chapter provides a prototypical crosswalk between DC:0-3R and ICD codes. A discussion of the difference between evidence-based treatments and evidence-based practices in the field, along with valuable information on randomized controlled trials, a research standard that, while often not feasible or ethically permissible in infant mental health work, remains a standard applied to the field. Key points and references at the end of each chapter, and generous use of figures, tables, and other resources to enhance learning. The volume editors and authors are passionate about the pressing need for further research and the acquisition and application of new knowledge to support the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Core Concepts and Clinical Practice should find a receptive audience for this critically important message.

A unique exploration of how the 'self' influences psychopathology, psychotherapy, emphasizing the need to integrate self-constructs into evidence-based conceptual models.

Discover a revolutionary approach to attachment theory that teaches readers how to heal their inner child to change their anxious, avoidant, or disorganized attachment style in relationships, friendships, at work, and home—perfect for readers of How to Do the Work, Polysecure, and Amir Levine’s Attached. Did you know that attachment style impacts more than romantic relationships? As it turns out, most of us are thinking about Attachment Theory all wrong, and triple board-certified clinical and forensic neuropsychologist Dr. Judy Ho is here to set the record straight. Grounded in the science of attachment, Dr. Judy’s game-changing approach shows that our attachment style impacts every aspect of our lives: friendships, career, goal setting, and, critically, our sense of self. Moreover, we can all learn to become securely attached—no matter what attachment style we developed in childhood—meaning that we can reclaim our ability to feel safe, loved, and capable of achieving the life we’ve always wanted. Through Dr. Judy’s innovative program, readers will learn to identify their attachment style, recognize their core needs and wounds, and implement evidence-based practical tools to heal their inner child as they develop the secure attachment we all need to thrive. Readers will also benefit from: A new attachment style quiz to identify your attachment style in all areas of life. A personalized approach that allows you to start making positive change today. More than two dozen transformative exercises to support your journey to healing. With warmth, authority, and a bias to action, The New Rules of Attachment is a call to achieving unconditional self-love and a meaningful, joyful life.

Disorganized attachment, the most extreme form of insecure attachment, can develop in a child when the person who is normally meant to protect them is a source of danger. This usually leads to 'fear without solution' and the effects can be lasting and damaging. This book is a comprehensive and accessible text on disorganized attachment. It outlines what it is, how it can be identified and the key causes, including neurological, biochemical and genetic explanations. Factors that contribute to disorganized attachment are covered including unresolved loss and trauma, and the behaviour of caregivers. The authors also discuss evidence-based interventions to help families and carers as well as how to work with adults to prevent or minimize its occurrence. To root the theory in practice and to illustrate real-life examples of disorganized attachment case vignettes are included. With an authoritative research base, this accessible text will be invaluable to practitioners and academics in the fields of social care, psychology, counselling and allied health professions as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students.

This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to key concepts of attachment theory, from the work of its founder John Bowlby to the most recent research within the field. The first part of the book gives readers a clear understanding of attachment theory during infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and in bereavement. The second part of the book illustrates how attachment theory can be used to inform clinical interventions with children in different contexts, adults, and within wider health, social and educational systems. Using case examples throughout, the authors provide the reader with a practical understanding of the clinical applications of attachment theory across the lifespan and in varying health, social care and educational systems. Attachment theory is one of the most important lifespan development theories and is relevant to students and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, psychology, child development, mental health and applied social sciences.

Winner of the 2017 International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) Pierre Janet Writing Award. Establishing safety and working with dissociative parts in complex trauma therapy. Therapists around the world ask similar questions and struggle with similar challenges treating highly dissociative patients. This book arose not only out of countless hours of treating patients with dissociative disorders, but also out of the crucible of supervision and consultation, where therapists bring their most urgent questions, needs, and vulnerabilities. The book offers an overview of the neuropsychology of dissociation as a disorder of non-realization, as well as chapters on assessment, prognosis, case formulation, treatment planning, and treatment phases and goals, based on best practices. The authors describe what to focus on first in a complex therapy, and how to do it; how to help patients establish both internal and external safety without rescuing; how to work systematically with dissociative parts of a patient in ways that facilitate integration rather than further dissociation; how to set and maintain helpful boundaries; specific ways to stay focused on process instead of content; how to deal compassionately and effectively with disorganized attachment and dependency on the therapist; how to help patients integrate traumatic memories; what to do when the patient is enraged, chronically ashamed, avoidant, or unable to trust the therapist; and how to compassionately understand and work with resistances as a co-creation of both patient and therapist. Relational ways of being with the patient are the backbone of treatment, and are themselves essential therapeutic interventions. As such, the book also focused not only on highly practical and theoretically sound interventions, not only on what to do and say, but places strong emphasis on how to be with patients, describing innovative, compassionately collaborative approaches based on the latest research on attachment and evolutionary psychology. Throughout the book, core concepts—fundamental ideas that are highlighted in the text in bold so they can be seen at a glance—are emphasized. These serve as guiding principles in treatment as well as a summing-up of many of the most important notions in each chapter. Each chapter concludes with a section for further examination. These sections include additional ideas and questions, exercises for practicing skills, and suggestions for peer discussions based on topics in a particular chapter, meant to inspire further curiosity, discovery, and growth.

This book offers an analysis and summary of the uses, abuses and limitations of attachment theory in contemporary child welfare practice. Analysing the primary science and drawing on the authors’ original empirical work, the book shows how attachment theory can distort and influence decision-making. It argues that the dominant view of attachment theory may promote a problematic diagnostic mindset, whilst undervaluing the enduring relationships between children and adults. The book concludes that attachment theory can still play an important role in child welfare practice, but the balance of the research agenda needs a radical shift towards a sophisticated understanding of the realities of human experience to inform ethical practice.

IAttachment and Family Systems is a cogent and compelling text addressing the undeniable overlap between two systems of thought that deal with the nature of interpersonal relationships and how these impact functioning. In this enlightening work, leading thinkers in the field apply attachment theory within a systemic framework to a variety of life cycle transitional tasks and clinical issues.

Written with the practicing psychotherapist in mind, this invaluable book presents cutting-edge knowledge on adult attachment and explores the implications for day-to-day clinical practice. Leading experts illustrate how theory and research in this dynamic area can inform assessment, case formulation, and clinical decision making. The book puts such concepts as the secure base, mentalization, and attachment styles in a new light by focusing on their utility for understanding the therapeutic relationship and processes of change. It offers recommendations for incorporating attachment ideas and tools into specific treatment approaches, with separate chapters on psychoanalytic, interpersonal, cognitive-behavioral, and emotionally focused therapies.