Provides practical guidance to clinical social workers, psychologists, counselors, teachers, foster parents, physicians, and child advocates who are involved in healing traumatized children. Issues in treatment are described for every stage in the recovery process. Chapters address: the impact of trauma on society and how children enter the juvenile justice and child welfare systems; definitions of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); symptoms of PTSD, including depression, numbing, panic attacks, avoidance and high-risk behaviors, obsessive-compulsive adaptations, somatic complaints, and suicidal ideation; steps in the recovery process and associated intervention goals; specific healing interventions; metaphorical storytelling as a psychotherapeutic aid; resilience, or the will to thrive in the face of adversity; and how adult caregivers who had been traumatized themselves can avoid such pitfalls as inappropriate discipline and lack of empathy, hyper vigilance and compulsive care giving, emotional and physical boundary crossing, and magical thinking. Also contains charts, checklists, case studies, references, and suggestions for additional reading.
