Healing the Fractured Child: Diagnosis and Treatment of Youth With Dissociation

Written by one of the nation's leading practitioners in the field of childhood trauma, abuse, and dissociation, this comprehensive resource fills a void in the literature to provide indepth knowledge of current interventions for treating dissociation in youth. It describes a detailed, careful assessment process and creative, evidence—supported techniques for helping children and their families to heal from chaotic, traumatizing experiences. With both a theoretical and practical focus, the book offers proven strategies for successfully treating children and adolescents with varying degrees ofdisissociation and comorbid symptoms. It also integrates adjunct therapies in environments beyond those of traditional psychotherapy, such as school, and describes howtheir strategies can be used effectively to augment therapy and understand dissociative children. Based on a model integrating five prominent therapeutic modalities, and underscoring the importance of attachment style, the book focuses on the neurobiology of trauma, a high comorbidity of symptoms, specialized clinical interventions, psychopharmacology, and family intervention techniques. Also addressed are adjunct therapies in art and EMDR. In addition, the book provides a window into the effects of traumatic events such as medical illness that may be overlooked, and safe techniques with dissociative youth who are exhibiting dangerous behaviors. Rich clinical examples demonstrate the various phases of treatment and offer a window into the internal world of dissociative children. Key Features: • Integrates psychotherapy with EMDR, art therapy, neurobiology, and psychopharmacology • Distills current research on neurobiology of trauma and how to intervene with specially designed treatment strategies • Provides in—depth knowledge of the latest creative interventions for treatment of childhood dissociation and comorbid symptoms • Sensitizes the therapist to often overlooked traumatic events, such as medical illness, that can exacerbate symptoms

About the Author

Frances S. Waters, DCSW, LMSW, LMFT, is a clinical social worker and a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice in Marquette, Michigan.