Treating Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents, Second Edition: How to Foster Resilience through Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency

by Margaret E. Blaustein, Kristine M. Kinniburgh

This book has been replaced by Treating Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents, Second Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-3704-4.

Genres: Psychology, Social Work, Parenting, Nonfiction, Counselling, Grad School, Academic

1096 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2010

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great framework for working with trauma - describes a set of domains and very specific, practical tools and methods for working to build resiliency/ skills within each domain. Very clear explanations of how trauma can often affect these different domains, and what skills children/ young people need to develop. I like that it includes residential/ milieu settings as well as outpatient therapy - the tools and exercises are portrayed in a very flexible manner that can be adapted for a range of different services. This book was fairly broad in methods, drawing on somatic, cognitive behavioral, and "general" affect-focused therapy styles. The book is well organized and easy to use. There are a ton of handouts in the appendix.

I thought the book should give more guidance on engaging with caregivers. The whole section on "Attachment" focuses on working with caregivers, which is appropriate, but it mostly seems to assume that you've already built rapport with them and convinced them they should be involved in therapy/ treatment. In my experience, engaging parents/ caregivers is one of the biggest hurdles for therapists.

I liked that they integrated suggestions about cultural issues, but many of them stayed fairly surface level, along the lines of "Be responsive to your client's culture." Well, yeah. Also, the very beginning speaks to how being a racial/cultural minority or living in poverty might affect a child's outcome, yet there's no further exploration in the book of how racism or economic oppression might BE trauma - or how these issues might come up in counseling/ treatment.

I have some differences of opinion around some of the somatic-based interventions, but they are subtle/ technical, and I can agree to disagree.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I am an LCSW and often work with children and families with traumatic pasts, foster/adoption situations, and transitional periods of life.

I was given this book by an employer as an indrocution to the ARC principles. What I like about this is it isn't an exclusive modality, instead it introduces itself as a tool to be used IN ADDITION to other interventions. Basically it's possible, and encouraged, that clinicians use this with other forms of therapy.

The book itself is laid out in an easy to navigate manner, it is broken down into smaller sections which are great for a quick reference back to it. It explains how to support both caregivers and clients in these changes, and provides many useful tools to aid in the process.

Overall, very happy with this book, I highlighted a lot of great information and recommend it to those in the field.

[Alma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read some of the parent attunement sections of the first edition back in 2016 when I first started to work at Prescott--they, and the supervisor who gave them to me, left a huge impression on me. Returning back to working with youth and families, I read the new edition. SUCH a fantastic book--it includes so many great activities and examples of how to use the principles in practice. I think a strength of this book, as compared to other theoretical/treatment books, is the inclusion of not just the theory but also extensive examples of using it in practice across broad treatment settings. And I love that they frame ARC as an adaptable thing one should be creative with, rather than something that needs to be strictly adhered to step by step

[Beth Punsalan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent resource for clinicians!

I wish I had read this book earlier in my career! It has so much valuable information for helping youth with complex trauma histories. I highly recommend this book!

[Paltia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for those who work with trauma in children and adolescents. The authors provide a comprehensive step by step exploration of how to understand and to address the after effects. They include highly useful outlines and a tool kit to help the helper along the way. Highly recommended.

[Livi Schuchman · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best working treatment manuals I have ever used. clear breakdown of all elements of the framework and how it can be utilized in practice. Great worksheets and psychoeducation for children, caregivers, and professionals.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and well organized. Covers a broad range of topics. I really appreciated the careful attention to developmental age and the bountiful suggestions of treatment activities.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book that I highly recommend to anyone working with children or adolescents who have challenging behaviours or have experienced developmental trauma. The book is written for clinicians, but any one working with youth can pick out the gems of wisdom in this book.

As a part of my school's development we will be using the ARC (Attachment self-Regulation, and Competency) framework to help us create a school that is sensitive to the needs and triggers of students who have developmental trauma and that will ultimately create the safety required for students to begin processing trauma.

[Jean-Paul Eberle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An immensely practical guide that advocates a collaborative systems approach to working with children with complex trauma. Inspired from the trenches of the Trauma Center in Massachusetts, spearheaded by the powerhouse Bessel van der Kolk, Blaustein and Kinniburgh do a commendable job delivering an approach to trauma work that is flexible, versatile, and coherent. With sensitivity to development, context, and larger systems, the reader will come away with many hands-on tools (i.e. - worksheets, exercises, activities, etc.) for working with youth of all ages and their significant caregivers, especially those also impacted by trauma themselves.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome reference book for treating trauma impacted children. I just finished a year long learning collaborative training with the author and feel a lot more equipped as a therapist to engage in this work.

[Macy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for those who find themselves working with this particular population. I learned a lot about different interventions that I can use and (mostly) cater to the adolescent population. I like that there are a lot of worksheets/resources in the back of the book, also.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This material is easy to understand and gives direct steps to apply this knowledge. Highly recommend to anyone that works with children, parents, teachers, or any caregivers to have this as a resource.

[Alejandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it for one of my classes. It was a good book but I wouldn't read it unless I had to. I appreciated the many exercises and activities that I could use with my kids in therapy