Treating Adult Survivors of Childhood Emotional Abuse and Neglect: Component-Based Psychotherapy

by Elizabeth K. Hopper, Frances K. Grossman, Joseph Spinazzola

Grounded in 40 years of clinical practice and research, this book provides a systematic yet flexible evidence-informed framework for treating adult survivors of complex trauma, particularly those exposed to chronic emotional abuse or neglect. Component-based psychotherapy (CBP) addresses four primary treatment components that can be tailored to each client's unique needs--relationship, regulation, dissociative parts, and narrative. Vivid extended case examples illustrate CBP intervention strategies and bring to life both the client's and therapist's internal experiences. The appendix features a reproducible multipage clinician self-assessment tool that can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

See also Treating Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents, Second Edition, by Margaret E. Blaustein and Kristine M. Kinniburgh, which presents a complementary approach for children and adolescents.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Mental Health, Counselling, Nonfiction, Relationships

296 pages, Hardcover

Published December 11, 2018

Reviews

[On the Road · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly insightful book. I don't work in trauma treatment or engage in any psychotherapy work. I bought and read this book wholly because I came to terms with that my then-partner had been deeply traumatised as a child. The whole 'enlightenment' was unfolded to me as he quickly shut down, withdrew, and acted as a completely different person when his work started to get stressful.

Reading the book has shed some light on the loss, disorientation, deep sadness that he has been experiencing (with some help of Bowlby's attachment theory). For now, I can at least say I feel more confident at dealing with the 'hidden dark parts' of people I care about and helping them feel more at peace with the bad memories in his earlier years, albeit not playing a role of a therapist. For those who want to learn more about their partner/loved ones, a critical takeaway from this book is we need to learn to better contain emotions and be more attuned with our feelings when hearing about their trauma and loss. At times, it is not our doing that caused their distress. So we don't always need to take their 'switched-off' behaviours personally.

In our everyday life, we tend to secretly blame others for being too cold, too distant and too dishonest. We hate that people are incapable of being true to themselves and therefore, we despair. It can feel frustrating, when people we care about suddenly act disconnected from us, chunking a stone wall in our face. We cried, feeling indignant as we are not meant to bear the consequence of what has been clearly messed up in their past. We feel that we are the ones who are wronged the most. But the world is full of broken people. Some are so broken that they are considered a damage to society. Some are less so, but their family shed tears that could have been saved for laughter. What we can offer is listening, witnessing and sympathising. By doing so, we help them rebuild a narrative that will potentially reconstruct their own identity. Acknowledging this is important to maintain boundaries of self-love and love for others.

Some bits of this book can get very technical at times, making it a challenging read. But I recommend this book anyways for the reason that I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it is a well-researched, effective tool to help me understand the skills needed to deal with a wounded person.

[Hannah Davidhizar · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those clinically and professional impactful books that will better my care for clients for many years to come.

[Rae]

You need to come to a point that you can lovingly and compassionately observe what you had to endure as a child and give the part of yourself the care that was lacking back then.

Components-based psychotherapy (CBP) attends to the following four components in roughly the following order:
1) relational, focused on client and therapist attachment styles and relational patterns with the intent of building a secure attachment as the context of the remaining work;
2) self-regulation, not only of emotions but of cognitions and behaviors;
3) dissociative parts of self and their identification and elicitation;
and 4) narrative construction of a coherent self.

[Danielle Dolby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a very useful introduction to this topic, however, be aware that this is written for practitioners and it could be triggering if read as a survivor; the author repeatedly emphasises that the effects of CEN are slow to work on in therapy and this could be disheartening. Nonetheless, I found it enlightening because she highlights why this client group may respond differently to techniques and interventions to other types of clients. I will find it hard to put into practice as the techniques she recommends for CEN (body psychotherapy etc) are outside of my current competence.

[Sam P · Rating 5 out of 5]

This just became the cornerstone text for my work as a new therapist. This text offers not only a way to do therapy but also a way to understand what psychological "healing" actually is (a concept which many other modalities fail or neglect to explain at all). I will be reviewing and sharing this text with others for decades.