Working with Children to Heal Interpersonal Trauma The Power of Play

by Gil, Eliana; Terr, Lenore C.

• ISBN13: 9781462513062
• ISBN10: 1462513069
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-09-19
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

Featuring in-depth case presentations from master clinicians, this volume highlights the remarkable capacity of traumatized children to guide their own healing process. The book describes what posttraumatic play looks like and how it can foster resilience and coping. Demonstrated are applications of play, art, and other expressive therapies with children who have faced such overwhelming experiences as sexual abuse or chronic neglect. The contributors discuss ways to facilitate forms of expression that promote mastery and growth, as well as how to intervene when play becomes stuck in destructive patterns. They share effective strategies for engaging hard-to-reach children and building trusting therapeutic relationships.

Author Biography

Eliana Gil, PhD, is senior partner in a private group practice in Fairfax, Virginia, the Gil Institute for Trauma Recovery and Education, which provides therapy, consulting, and training services. She is also Director of Starbright Training Institute for Child and Family Play Therapy in northern Virginia. Dr. Gil has worked in the field of child abuse prevention and treatment for nearly 40 years. A licensed marriage, family, and child counselor; approved marriage and family therapy supervisor; registered play therapist; and registered play therapy supervisor, Dr. Gil has served on the Board of Directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and the National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse, and is a former President of the Association for Play Therapy. She is the author of The Healing Power of Play: Working with Abused Children; Play in Family Therapy; Treating Abused Adolescents; Helping Abused and Traumatized Children: Integrating Directive and Nondirective Approaches, and other acclaimed books and video programs on child abuse and related topics. Originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, Dr. Gil is bilingual and bicultural.

Table of Contents

Foreword, Lenore C. Terr

I. The Extent of the Problem and Its Impact

1. Introduction, Eliana Gil

2. A Review of Current Research on the Incidence and Prevalence of Interpersonal Childhood Trauma, Jennifer A. Shaw

3. The Role of Healthy Relational Interactions in Buffering the Impact of Childhood Trauma, Christine R. Ludy-Dobson and Bruce D. Perry

4. Children’s Self-Initiated Gradual Exposure: The Wonders of Post-Traumatic Play and Behavioral Reenactments, Eliana Gil

II. Clinical Responses

5. Silent Grieving in a World without Words: A Child Witnesses His Brother’s Murder, Eliana Gil

6. The Owner of a Broken Heart: The Cumulative Trauma of Surgery and Sexual Abuse, Nicole Erin Jalazo

7. A Hero’s Journey: A Boy Who Lost His Parents and Found Himself, Vincent L. Pastore

8. A Tornado Disrupts the Wedding, to the Relief of the Unwilling Bride: A Girl’s Quest for Healing after Sexual Abuse, Myriam L. Goldin

9. Finding the Treasure Within: Spontaneous Storytelling and the Sandplay Journey of an Emotionally Despairing Girl, Rosalind L. Heiko

10. "Stitches Are Stronger Than Glue": A Child Directs the Healing of Her Shattered Heart, David A. Crenshaw

11. Manny's Story: A Soul Ascending, Eric J. Green

12. "I Am an Artist": A Sexually Traumatized Girl’s Self-Portraits in Paint and Clay, Barbara Sobol

13. The Gift of Time: Helping to Heal through Long-Term Treatment Involving Complex Trauma and Cultural Issues, Athena A. Drewes

14. "This Mommy Has No Milk!": A Neglected Child’s Adaptation to Loss and Hunger, Eliana Gil

15. Play and the Transformation of Feeling: Niki's Case, Eva-Maria Simms