Rebuilding Attachments with Traumatized Children: Healing from Losses, Violence, Abuse, and Neglect

by Richard Kagan

Learn to build the trust you need to help children in crisis!

Rebuilding Attachments with Traumatized 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 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

390 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2004

About the author

Richard Kagan, Ph.D., is the Director of Psychological Services at Parsons Child and Family Center located in Albany, New York. Dr. Kagan specializes in developing interventions and programs for complex trauma for children and families. His works are widely published and he is a keynote speaker at international agency conferences regarding family therapy, trauma research and child welfare.

Reviews

[Chavonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't get to finish this because this book belonged to a supervisor and I did not have enough time, but I really enjoyed what I got to read. I don't work with children but think it would be really useful when working with all victims of childhood trauma regardless of their age. I was given this while working with an adult who has had a diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder since age 3. I was very grateful for the compassion of the author and it helped me see things in a different light. An interesting read that I may pick up to read again.