Is maternal instinct fact or fiction? What special challenges do adoptive parents face? What kind of daycare is better, one with many caregivers or one with few? When is separation anxiety normal in a child? Do the experiences of early childhood always influence our ability to build and maintain social relationships as adults? Understanding Attachment helps to answer these questions and many others. This book is perfect for the reader who wants or needs a thorough understanding of attachment, but does not have time to indulge in lengthy study. Parents, child care providers, teachers, nurses, social workers, attorneys, therapists, students, and counselors will all appreciate this work. Is maternal instinct fact or a myth? What special challenges do adoptive parents face? What kind of daycare is better, one with many caregivers or one with few? When is separation anxiety normal in a child, and when is it a sign of a developmental problem? Do the experiences of early childhood always influence our ability to build and maintain social relationships as adults? Understanding Attachment helps to answer these questions and many others. This book is perfect for the reader who wants or needs a thorough understanding of attachment, but does not have the time to indulge in lengthy study. Parents, child care providers, teachers, nurses, social workers, attorneys, therapists, students, and counselors will all appreciate this work. Mercer defines attachment and related terms, discusses the history of the idea, and describes ways in which this aspect of emotional life can be measured. She explains developmental change and the way attachment continues to alter from infancy to adulthood. The importance of social experiences with parents and other caregivers is emphasized. Outcomes of good and poor attachment experiences are discussed, and there is material on attachment disorders. The book concludes with a description of recent work that gives a new perspective on attachment.

Candace Newmaker was an adopted girl whose mother felt the child suffered from an emotional disorder that prevented loving attachment. The mother sought attachment therapy--a fringe form of psychotherapy--for the child and was present at her death by suffocation during that therapy. This text examines the beliefs of the girl's mother and the unlicensed therapists, showing that the death, though unintentional, was a logical outcome of this form of treatment. The authors explain legal factors that make it difficult to ban attachment therapy, despite its significant dangers. Much of the text's material is drawn from court testimony from the therapists' trial, and from 11 hours of videotape made while Candace was forcibly held beneath a blanket by several adults during the "therapy." This book also presents history connecting attachment therapy to century-old fringe treatments, explaining why they may appeal to an unsophisticated public. This book will appeal to general readers, such as parents and adoption educators, as well as to scholars and students in clinical psychology, child psychiatry, and social work.

Alternative Psychotherapies: Evaluating Unconventional Mental Health Treatments addresses concerns about current and newly-emerging mental health treatments that are considered "unconventional." In a parallel to complementary and alternative medical treatments, alternative psychotherapies lack research support, are at odds with established information about human personality and development, and may actually be harmful. Professionals and students in the helping professions may find such treatments confusing and difficult to differentiate from emerging therapies that have not yet established a foundation of evidence; this is especially problematic if clients propose using unconventional therapies they have found on the Internet. Alternative Psychotherapies examines a series of unconventional treatments in terms of the research supporting them, their theoretical and historical backgrounds, and the potential or documented adverse events that may be associated with them. Therapies for both adults and children are included, and topics range from recovered memory therapies to bodywork to treatments for autism and to special education issues. Alternative psychotherapies frequently share certain historical backgrounds, and psychotherapists can use historical insights as well as an understanding of basic research rules and psychological theory to identify unconventional treatments other than the ones discussed. The book concludes with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of greater regulation of alternative therapies, as compared to the current situation in which few mental health interventions are banned or limited by law.

The editors and chapter authors argue against the unquestioning use of "parental alienation" concepts in child custody conflicts. As such, this is the first book to support arguments against court orders that would prohibit contact with a child and force the child into potentially harmful parental alienation treatment. Of interest to any professional who may encounter parental alienation: mental health professionals, children's services workers, lawyers, judges, domestic relations and child protection court staff as well as Children's Advocacy Center interviewers. Parents and professionals involved in parental alienation cases can find in this book the materials they need to support arguments against court orders that would prohibit contact with a child and force the child into potentially harmful parental alienation treatment. No other book provides this help, even at this time when the use of parental alienation concepts is increasing.

The editors and chapter authors argue against the unquestioning use of "parental alienation" concepts in child custody conflicts. As such, this is the first book to support arguments against court orders that would prohibit contact with a child and force the child into potentially harmful parental alienation treatment. Of interest to any professional who may encounter parental alienation: mental health professionals, children's services workers, lawyers, judges, domestic relations and child protection court staff as well as Children's Advocacy Center interviewers. Parents and professionals involved in parental alienation cases can find in this book the materials they need to support arguments against court orders that would prohibit contact with a child and force the child into potentially harmful parental alienation treatment. No other book provides this help, even at this time when the use of parental alienation concepts is increasing.