Main description:

Understanding the Paradox of Surviving Childhood Trauma offers clinicians a new framework for understanding the symptoms and coping mechanisms displayed by survivors of childhood abuse. This approach considers how characteristics such as suicidality, self-harm, persistent depression, and anxiety can have roots in behaviors and beliefs that helped patients survive their trauma. This book provides practitioners with case examples, practical tips, and techniques for applying this mindset directly to their most complex cases. By depathologizing patients' experiences and behaviors, and moving beyond simply managing them, therapists can reduce their clients' shame and work collaboratively to understand the underlying message that these behaviors conceal.

Contents:

1. A Non-Pathologizing Approach to Trauma Treatment 2. Understanding Posttraumatic Symptoms Through the Eyes of a Child 3. The Legacy of Abuse: Exploring How Rules and Beliefs are Formed in Attachment Relationships 4. A Shift in Perspective: Exploring Suicidality 5. A Shift in Perspective: Exploring Dissociation 6. A Shift in Perspective: Exploring Issues of Identity 7. Bringing Ourselves into the Therapy Room