From Chaos to Coherence is the true story, told in everyday language, of the adopted boy Douglas and his journey towards adulthood with the help of psychotherapy. Douglas has severe psychic, physical and social handicaps and is also diagnosed with ADHD. He is impulse-governed, aggressive, provocative and unable to interact with other ch

This is a story from inside the child psychologist's room. Victor, who is two and a half years old, has lost his mother and younger brother in a car accident. He is 'sunny and happy' and does not cry. He is a child in deep crisis and comes for a crisis therapy. In this book we will follow Victor for his fifteen treatment sessions. He shows through

In Short-Term Psychodynamic Therapy with Children in Crisis, Elisabeth Cleve presents the therapeutic stories of four children who have experienced trauma or are displaying dramatic clinical symptoms such as low self-esteem and anxiety. Exploring the situation between the individual child and the therapist, the therapeutic space and their experiences, each chapter follows the sessions and the progress made, concluding with a follow-up after the end of therapy. Cleve explores each case as it progresses, emphasising the inner strength of the children and including the interactions between the therapist and the children's parents. The focus of the psychotherapeutic encounter is in each case to help the child face the trauma, mourn what had been suffered and then move on in life with renewed strength. The final chapters explore the ethics of sharing case material and present Cleve's reflections on working with traumatised children, and the book also includes forewords by Lars H. Gustafsson, paediatrician and associate professor of social medicine, and Bjoern Salomonsson, child psychoanalyst and researcher at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. This warm and readable work will be insightful reading for child psychologists and psychotherapists and other clinicians working with children who have experienced trauma. It will also be of interest to readers wishing to learn more about the processes of psychotherapy with children.

This is a story from inside the child psychologist's room. Victor, who is two and a half years old, has lost his mother and younger brother in a car accident. He is 'sunny and happy' and does not cry. He is a child in deep crisis and comes for a crisis therapy. In this book we will follow Victor for his fifteen treatment sessions. He shows through play and activities how he is followed and piloted through his grief by his therapist. The healing by play therapy is depicted in words and pictures out of the perspective of both patient and therapist. The crisis therapy will work as the first link into a new future. In spite of the tragic reasons for the meetings, A Big and a Little One is Gone is a documentary story which brings both hope and courage.

..".I am flooded with warmth for this little expert on the art of living, who has just realised that even he has the possibility to live a long life. My interpretation is that he trusts he will get the time he needs in therapy to reach, first adulthood, and, then, old age. Right now he believes he will continue to be in therapy for the rest of his life. He cannot imagine that it is going to come to an end. However, I have started to think about when we will have to part and I am not looking forward to it...""From Chaos to Coherence" is the true story, told in everyday language, of the adopted boy Douglas and his journey towards adulthood with the help of psychotherapy. Douglas has severe psychic, physical and social handicaps and is also diagnosed with ADHD. He is impulse-governed, aggressive, provocative and unable to interact with other children. He begins psychotherapy at the age of seven and continues weekly sessions for the next seven years.The reader is invited into the child psychotherapy room to follow the work of Douglas and his therapist, author Elisabeth Cleve. The therapy can be described as physically intense work that evokes strong emotions in both Douglas and the therapist. We get to learn about their inner feelings, thoughts and actions during the different phases of the treatment.The story of Douglas captivates the reader and provides an understanding of what is going on inside a troubled little boy. This beautifully written account of successful psychotherapy is painfully honest at times and manages to bring the therapy sessions to life for the reader. "From Chaos to Coherence" is an important book and vital reading not only for all involved in children s psychotherapy, but for all of us in search of a humane, informative and touching book."