Adoption is a transformational process bringing parenthood to those who long for but cannot bear children and giving stranded children home, family, and their place in the world. But every adoption is preceded and followed by its story and when these stories are told in the offices of psychotherapists we begin to understand the impact of adoption in all its complexity. We learn from parents how their quest to have and raise a child has played out in real life, and what shadows might have fallen between the dream and the reality. And we learn from the children the many ways that being adopted shaped their development, their sense of identity; what went wrong along the way and how we may help. Clinical work with parents and children as well as with adults who were adopted is the focus of Understanding Adoption. Because adoption has become widely practiced, accepted, and accessible, and because it has greatly changed the composition of families, it is a timely subject for study. The authors of this book undertake exploration of this important terrain of loss and connection, and of the fragility and resilience of human bonds.

Adoption is a transformational process bringing parenthood to those who long for but cannot bear children and giving stranded children home, family, and their place in the world. But every adoption is preceded and followed by its story and when these stories are told in the offices of psychotherapists we begin to understand the impact of adoption in all its complexity. We learn from parents how their quest to have and raise a child has played out in real life, and what shadows might have fallen between the dream and the reality. And we learn from the children the many ways that being adopted shaped their development, their sense of identity; what went wrong along the way and how we may help. Clinical work with parents and children as well as with adults who were adopted is the focus of Understanding Adoption. Because adoption has become widely practiced, accepted, and accessible, and because it has greatly changed the composition of families, it is a timely subject for study. The authors of this book undertake exploration of this important terrain of loss and connection, and of the fragility and resilience of human bonds.

Since Freud's publication of 'Little Hans', advances in psychoanalytic technique and theory have transformed our clinical work with children. Individuals including Anna Freud, Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott have influenced psychoanalytic play therapy and broadened the scope of practice with them. Contemporary psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic social work clinicians often find themselves responding to misapprehensions and distortions about psychoanalytic theory and treatment created or promoted in popular culture. Furthermore, clinical practices are subject to the disruptive influence of managed mental health care and, with the ascendancy of biological psychiatry, an increasing reliance on psychoactive drugs in the treatment of children, often in the absence of sound research support. In this book, expert international contributors explore developmental, theoretical and clinical themes in work with children. Focusing on diverse populations and varied treatment settings, they present compelling clinical cases and research that, collectively, demonstrate the efficacy and relevance of psychoanalytic ideas in the context of play therapy. This book was originally published as a special issue of Psychoanalytic Social Work.

An expanded and revised edition of the first social work text to focus specifically on the theoretical and clinical issues associated with trauma, this comprehensive anthology incorporates the latest research in trauma theory and clinical applications. It presents key developments in the conceptualization of trauma and covers a wide range of clinical treatments. Trauma features coverage of emerging therapeutic modalities and clinical themes, focusing on the experiences of historically disenfranchised, marginalized, oppressed, and vulnerable groups. Clinical chapters discuss populations and themes including cultural and historical trauma among Native Americans, the impact of bullying on children and adolescents, the use of art therapy with traumatically bereaved children, historical and present-day trauma experiences of incarcerated African American women, and the effects of trauma treatment on the therapist. Other chapters examine trauma-related interventions derived from diverse theoretical frameworks, such as cognitive-behavioral theory, attachment theory, mindfulness theory, and psychoanalytic theory.

An expanded and revised edition of the first social work text to focus specifically on the theoretical and clinical issues associated with trauma, this comprehensive anthology incorporates the latest research in trauma theory and clinical applications. It presents key developments in the conceptualization of trauma and covers a wide range of clinical treatments. Trauma features coverage of emerging therapeutic modalities and clinical themes, focusing on the experiences of historically disenfranchised, marginalized, oppressed, and vulnerable groups. Clinical chapters discuss populations and themes including cultural and historical trauma among Native Americans, the impact of bullying on children and adolescents, the use of art therapy with traumatically bereaved children, historical and present-day trauma experiences of incarcerated African American women, and the effects of trauma treatment on the therapist. Other chapters examine trauma-related interventions derived from diverse theoretical frameworks, such as cognitive-behavioral theory, attachment theory, mindfulness theory, and psychoanalytic theory.

Since Freud's publication of 'Little Hans', advances in psychoanalytic technique and theory have transformed our clinical work with children. Individuals including Anna Freud, Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott have influenced psychoanalytic play therapy and broadened the scope of practice with them. Contemporary psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic social work clinicians often find themselves responding to misapprehensions and distortions about psychoanalytic theory and treatment created or promoted in popular culture. Furthermore, clinical practices are subject to the disruptive influence of managed mental health care and, with the ascendancy of biological psychiatry, an increasing reliance on psychoactive drugs in the treatment of children, often in the absence of sound research support. In this book, expert international contributors explore developmental, theoretical and clinical themes in work with children. Focusing on diverse populations and varied treatment settings, they present compelling clinical cases and research that, collectively, demonstrate the efficacy and relevance of psychoanalytic ideas in the context of play therapy. This book was originally published as a special issue of Psychoanalytic Social Work.