Therapists who work with children and adolescents are frequently faced with nonresponsive, reticent, or completely nonverbal clients. This volume brings together expert clinicians who explore why 4- to 16-year-olds may have difficulty talking and provide creative ways to facilitate communication. A variety of play, art, movement, and animal-assisted therapies, as well as trauma-focused therapy with adolescents, are illustrated with vivid clinical material. Contributors give particular attention to the neurobiological effects of trauma, how they manifest in the body when children "clam up," and how to help children self-regulate and feel safe. Most chapters conclude with succinct lists of recommended practices for engaging hard-to-reach children that therapists can immediately try out in their own work.

Therapists who work with children and adolescents are frequently faced with nonresponsive, reticent, or completely nonverbal clients. This volume brings together expert clinicians who explore why 4- to 16-year-olds may have difficulty talking and provide creative ways to facilitate communication. A variety of play, art, movement, and animal-assisted therapies, as well as trauma-focused therapy with adolescents, are illustrated with vivid clinical material. Contributors give particular attention to the neurobiological effects of trauma, how they manifest in the body when children "clam up," and how to help children self-regulate and feel safe. Most chapters conclude with succinct lists of recommended practices for engaging hard-to-reach children that therapists can immediately try out in their own work.

This edited collection by David A. Crenshaw, with contributions from such notables as James Garbarino, Kenneth V. Hardy, and Andrew Fussner, addresses the multiple sources of wounding of children and teens in contemporary life. The book conveys a message of hope and optimism, even in work with children who might be viewed as 'impossible cases,' because the contributors share a passion for utilizing and building on the strengths of children and families. These authors go beyond treating psychiatric symptoms to address in a more comprehensive way the emotional suffering of youth. The unifying treatment framework for the book is relational therapy. The emotional injuries of children do not develop in a vacuum, but rather in a relational context, and healing must also be embedded in an empathic relationship between the child and the family. Building, repairing, and restoring connections within the family and the larger community, as well as within the therapeutic relationship, opens the door to growth, healing, and meaningful belonging. The stories of triumph over adversity by the courageous children and families in this book will inspire those who daily strive to make a meaningful difference in the lives of hurting youth to renew their commitment to this worthy mission.

This book is the most comprehensive and detailed compilation of specific and practical techniques available for child and play therapists to draw on in the treatment of aggressive children. Written by two authors with a combined experience of over 50 years in the residential t...

This book addresses the challenges faced when children who refuse to talk, children who lack psychological mindedness, teens who experience a strong aversion to the influence of any adult, and children and teens who mask their woundedness by hostility or diffidence show up for therapy. This book does not push one therapeutical or theoretical approach over another but specifically describes useful tools that can be utilized within a wide range of approaches.

Ending therapy in an appropriate and meaningful way is especially important in work with children and adolescents, yet the topic is often overlooked in clinical training. From leading child clinicians, this much-needed book examines the termination process/m-/both for brief and longer-term encounters/m-/and offers practical guidance illustrated with vivid case material. Tools are provided for helping children and families understand termination and work through associated feelings of loss and grief. Challenges in creating positive endings to therapy with children who have experienced trauma and adversity are given particular attention. Several reproducible forms can be downloaded and printed from the companion website in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. This e-book edition features nine full-color figures. (Figures will appear in black and white on black-and-white e-readers).